Do you describe yourself as very ambitious? We know that 3 out of 4 women in the sphinxx network describe themselves as ambitious... but very ambitious?  Turns out professional ambition is extraordinarily high among women in the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, as well as in the United Arab Emirates, say Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Ripa Rashid, authors of Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets.

The proportion of educated women in those countries who reported in a survey that they are "very ambitious" is 59%, 63%, 85%, 65%, and 92%, respectively, compared with 36% in the United States. The numbers of women who aspire to the top jobs in companies is similarly high in those countries, the authors say.

If ambition is anything to go by, women could be the key to success for these new economic powerhouses...