I hope you’re a woman. That is to say, I hope at least some of the people reading U.S. Business Review on a regular basis are women in positions of power and authority in business. The statistics say that some of you definitely are, but not that many. According to a recent study conducted by the Catalyst research group, the number of women in decision-making capacities at Fortune 500 companies has been on the decline in the last three years. Women only make up 8.9 percent of those executives, the study found, which was down from 10.6 percent in 2005.

The situation for female executives, it seems, has gone from bad to worse. Even at Liz Claiborne, recently recognized by the National Association of Female Executives as one of the best companies for executive women, only three of the company’s top 11 executive positions were held by women.

There might be no better time than right now, while a woman runs for the ultimate executive position in the country, to talk about what’s been keeping women out of high-level positions not only at major corporations, but throughout the business world.

This month, women’s leadership experts Dr. Marcia Reynolds and Susan Butler talk to us about just that. They agree it’s still difficult for a woman to rise to an executive position, but differ on the root causes. One fascinating point Reynolds brings up is that many women in business report finding themselves being coddled and given softball assignments by their bosses because of the perceived difficulty of their family obligations. It’s still sexism, but now it’s rooted in oversensitivity rather than insensitivity.

Even if you’re not a woman, there are still measures you can take to ensure that your company receives the full benefit of your entire staff’s experience. It may take some work, but there are probably some women who could be major contributors to your success working there right now.