Last Thursday I received an e-card from a perfect stranger. It was a picture of an orchid with the message underneath: “I hope you have a happy International Women’s Day!”

As it happened, I did have a pretty happy day, but it seems I was bucking a trend. For most western professional women, last Thursday was yet another god-awful day in what has been a never-ending succession of god-awful days, months and years.

I know this because I have been slogging my way through the latest batch of surveys about women managers. Every single one testifies to what a rotten time women are having and shows that, despite all the tub-thumping, nothing much is changing. So there is still a pay gap, with women managers paid less than men. Women are still gloomier about their prospects at work than men are. And they still aren’t making it into the “C-suite” – or into executive jobs, as I wish they were still called.