• Bloomberg/Harvard Business, Tuesday, March 9, 2010 10:44 AM

Women's earned income in developing nations is growing at 8.1% compared to 5.8% for men, according to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, and women currently control nearly $12 trillion of the $18 trillion total overall consumer spending globally.

"More significant, the majority of tertiary degrees are now being awarded to women," writes Sylvia Ann Hewlett. "Highly qualified, well-educated and ambitious, these women are taking over the talent pool from Delhi to Dubai and bringing new urgency to the issue of managing diversity."

Companies such as Goldman Sachs and Google in India are investing in women in emerging markets by developing programs that help them advance their careers. In the process, they are placing a bet not only on the development of economies that will depend on the new talent but also on themselves, Hewitt concludes.

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