Women in emerging countries are becoming business leaders in greater numbers than in the developed world, and nowhere is that more evident than in China and eastern Europe, according to a study by Grant Thornton LLP.

The survey of 6,627 executives across industries and around the world shows the 10 countries with the most women in senior positions are all emerging economies, led by China, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. At least 32 percent of chief executive officers, chairmen, senior executives or managers in these countries are women, according to the results.

Women from the former Soviet Union are the most commonly found on directorial boards, with the Baltic states leading the world’s regions with 38 percent of board slots filled by women. In Russia, women occupy 37 percent of board positions, the most in the world and double the global weighted average of 19 percent, the data show.

The world’s fastest-growing nations are making an effort to add women to leadership positions as new jobs are created, according to Erica O’Malley, a partner at Grant Thornton in Chicago. In China, where women hold more than half of all senior management positions — more than double the portion in the U.S. — 72 percent of respondents said they favor gender quotas to promote the number of women on directorial boards.

The survey, conducted from November 2012 through last month and published March 8, found that women in the so-called BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China hold 28 percent of the top jobs. That compares with 21 percent in the Group of Seven nations, Bloomberg reported.

While 27 percent of Chinese companies offer flexible working options, the number of women in senior roles more than doubled last year as the economy expanded 7.8 percent, the world’s third-fastest, according to the survey. In China, 81 percent of companies with a woman in upper management had a female chief financial officer.

Ref.110.110.110.3630