“It’s 2013. Why are women still only earning 80 cents for every dollar a man makes? Why is domestic violence still such a problem? In other words, why is progress so slow, and why can’t it happen faster? And the thing with Twitter, seriously? Are you kidding?”

So posted Margaret P.,  ”Teacher at KEYS Academy,” at LinkedIn on Monday during a live webcast about “What’s Next for Women in Business.”

That one remark sums up the way a lot of women are thinking these days as the “glass ceiling” simply refuses to go away.

To the credit of people such as Vivek Wadhwa (read posts from him online at WRALTechWire and again at TechWire and some members of the media, the uproar triggered by Twitter’s lack of female representation on its board continues to make headlines. Wadhwa’s complaints were picked up and then amplified with Twitter’s CEO Dick Costolo criticized him. Wadhwa participated in the LinkedIn forum, and to keep the heat on the issue he sent an update to his friends, followers and colleagues around the world. (Wadhwa is a frequent contributor to WRALTechWire.)

Wadhwa cited a new York Times report on Sunday which included the following very interesting passage about women in tech:

“[T]he industry’s maleness is remarkable, not only in the boardrooms but in the overall work force. Women made up 15 percent of those employed in software programming and other computer jobs in the 1970s, rising to 34 percent in 1990, according to the Census Bureau. But since then, in spite of two big booms, women’s share of computing jobs has fallen to 27 percent. That decline stands in contrast to the gains women have made in other fields like life and physical sciences and mathematics where they are approaching parity with men in total numbers, though they still lag in leadership roles.”

The story duly noted that twitter does have some femal executives and encourages more women to get involved in tech.

But as Wadhwa noted in his emai before heading to France to a women’s conference where he had been invited to speak:

“I’m surprised that 8 days after the frat-boy attacks by Twitter’s CEO and his being called out by the worldwide press, he hasn’t done anything to fix the problem of board representation—or apologized. As you will read below, this is making the controversy much worse. New York Times had a big article in Sunday Review. … And many any other publications have kept up the barrage.”

Some comments from the LinkedIn web event feedback section are worth noting:

  • Vanessa C., Entrepreneur, Visionary & Mentor:

“This is great information. It will be great if no gender matter in the workplace or as an entrepreneur, in order to be considered for a position or considered for a speaking engagement. We’ve come so far but still placed on the back burner due to being a woman.”

  • Cherie T., HR Admin Assist at iLink Systems:

“Why is it so difficult for women to stand together in a workplace. The women who are leaders tend to follow (like sheep) the male discrimination, and office politics. They ignore the hostile atmosphere in the workplace. They expect more from the women in the office than they do from the men. It is extremely irritating that the women are so willing to sabotage their female co-workers.”

  • Patti A. L., Client Management Professional:

“Great question! I believe the deprecating behavior is common among those who are considered a “minority” in any situation. These “people” are more critical of those with whom they most closely identify, to give their “authoritarians” the impression that they are not practicing favoritism, and that they are on the side of the status quo. Sadly, people with this type of behavior simply commit career suicide, if they do not recognize that they are doing more harm than good and quickly change. In my experience, when I see that there is no way I could help them, I simply elevate myself, follow my principles and keep focused on the big picture.”

  • Pamela R., Professional Writer | Freelance | Higher Ed Blogger | Copywriter:

“Great webcast! Agree with more female investors are needed and with women not being disregarded because they may not have the confident swag exhibited by some men.”

This debate is not going to end any time soon. Perhaps continued heat will lead to real changes.

By the way, Apple named a new head of retail operations on Monday:

Burberry Group Plc Chief Executive Officer Angela Ahrendts.