For women in business, it's the same old song.

BACK in the early '90s, I remember writing a column bemoaning the lack of women chief executives at large publicly held companies. Apologists argued at the time that the disparity had a lot to do with women having limited experience in the management ranks--they had only been accepted in significant numbers for 10 or 15 years--and that it would be just a matter of time before they reached CEO status.

Well, we're still waiting. The latest Fortune 500 has a mere nine women CEOs--19 on the Fortune 1000--and, according to the magazine, that's considered an improvement. Here in Southern California, more than 100 public companies do not have a single woman board member, according to a survey by the local chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (among them are the likes of DirecTV and Univision). Another 70 or so just have a single woman on their boards.

Gender disparity within the top levels of corporate America is so entrenched that it rarely draws much attention anymore. A Neanderthal like Neil French was recently forced to resign as creative director of WPP Group only after noting that women in advertising "don't make it to the top because they don't deserve to."

Say this much for French: At least he said what was on his mind. Other corporate guys with likeminded views would most likely slink to another comer of the room. Sheila Wellington, a professor of management at New York University's Stern School of Business, told Fortune magazine that many men in leadership positions assume--even today--that family responsibilities just get in the way of women moving up the ranks. "They act on those unspoken biases, and it just becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Wellington believes there's a widespread perception that women aren't fully committed to their careers. "It tends to happen every time the spotlight is on a high-ranking woman who flames out, like (former Hewlett-Packard CEO) Carly Fiorina," she said. "You start hearing all kinds of people analyzing 'what women are doing wrong.'"

Not surprisingly, a lot of women with healthy ambitions get frustrated by such nonsense, so they job hop in search of a more accommodating environment (often slowing their career advance in the process). Others find success by taking the entrepreneurial route, which eats into the talent pool at public companies.

And you know the sad, unvarnished truth? The guys really don't seem to care.

Ever recall a slate of directors that was turned down because there weren't enough women? Perhaps it's occasionally brought up by more socially conscious institutional investors, but the trouble is it's tough to prove that having an all-male board has a direct impact on how much money a company happens to be making. Without that smoking gun, the women are doomed.

Not that corporate America is necessarily inundated with sexist CEOs and directors--just nervous and unsure ones who are often looking for the most risk-averse means of getting through the day.

"CEOs usually want to look around the room and see people that are just like them," corporate governance expert Nell Minow told Business Journal reporter Kate Berry. "The people who get invited to be on boards are those whose number one skill is to walk into a room, size up the norms and blend in."

From one board room to the next--same faces, same caution. Logic would have you believe that sooner or later the barriers would have to break down. And yet they don't, perhaps because women, no matter how motivated, must still abide by guys rules--and those rules will always put them at a disadvantage.

Wellington and others insist there's still hope--even if it means having to tough it out. Perhaps. But reprising the same old laments year after year with little sign of change should be a clue that the waiting game is a bad bet. Perhaps it's time to get a little tougher with the old boys.

Mark Lacter is editor of the Business Journal. He can be heard every Tuesday morning at 6:55 and 9:55 on KPCC-FM (89.3).