Best Countries For Women Have One Strange Thing In Common

Women's standing in the upper reaches of business has stolen hundreds of headlines in the last few weeks, thanks to Sheryl Sandberg's new manifesto on the subject, Lean In. But the book by Facebook's chief operating officer is missing one key fact: A woman is more likely to enter senior management in almost any other country than the U.S.

According to a survey of 45 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, and South America by the international consultancy Grant Thornton, women occupied just under a quarter of senior management roles in 2012, after dipping for a few years during the recession. But this number varies vastly by nation. And the countries that score the highest have a strange thing in common: They once were, or still are, communist.