Communism, it turns out, may have been good for women in one regard: A higher percentage of senior managers in companies from countries that were Communist are women than in the U.S. and western Europe.

Market Watch website wrote the aforesaid citing the Grant Thornton International Business Report for 2014.

According to the report, Russia leads the group, with 43 percent of senior-management slots filled by women. It is followed by Latvia with 41 percent, Lithuania with 39 percent Estonia with 37 percent, and Georgia and Armenia with 35 percent apiece. The study says one reason for the high percentage may go back to the promise of equal opportunity for all under the Communists, followed by promotions for women.

By comparison, a below-average 22 percent of senior-management jobs in the U.S. and Spain are held by women. The figure drops to 20 percent in the U.K., 14 percent in Germany and Denmark, 13 percent in Switzerland, and just 10 percent in the Netherlands.

Indeed, European businesses are among those most likely to have no women in their senior teams, according to the study. Some 71 percent of Danish companies do not have any women in their leadership team, followed by Germany with 67 percent.