Fortune's Carol Loomis examines the executive gender gap in conjunction with the release of Fortune's Most Powerful Women issue. The gender gap gains over the past decade are overshadowed by tremendous lack of parity still to be overcome.

DANA POINT, Calif. (Fortune) -- The good news for women is that they have gained ground in the corporate hierarchy. According to Catalyst, a New York organization that works to expand corporate opportunities for women, in 1995 women held only 9.6% of the Fortune 500's board seats. Today, their share is significantly higher, 14.6%.

But the really bad news is that at this rate of gain - about a half of a percentage point per year - it will take women 73 years to achieve what Catalyst's president, Ilene Lang, calls "parity" (boards divided 50-50 between men and women)...

The presence of mentors have been a recognized source in inspiring young females to venture into the business world, although studies show that MBA students want to see more role models who they can learn from in balancing a growing career with a growing family.

[Newsweek Magazine]--A graduate of Brown University, Rachel Hochheiser says she was out to heal the world when she first joined the workforce in the nonprofit sector. In her wildest dreams, she never imagined she would set foot inside a business school, let alone graduate from one. But she did just that in May, 2005, when she received her MBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis.

What changed her mind about B-school? Her role model, Rhoda Weisman Uziel, the executive director of The Professional Leaders Project, a group that cultivates young leaders in the Jewish community. Uziel, by example, showed Hochheiser that applying for-profit skills to nonprofit work would help her make even more of a difference.

Recent research suggests that showcasing the achievements of women in business would attract women to MBA programs. For years now, B-schools have been struggling to understand why the share of women students pursuing an MBA plateaus at about 30%, while increasing percentages of women seek medical and legal degrees (see BW Online, 12/1/04, "Breaking B-School Gender Barriers").