The recruitment and development of talent is a growing prior

[jantika]

The recruitment and development of talent is a growing priority for many organizations, and is increasingly regarded as an important competitive advantage. One example of this emphasis on talent development is the creation of so-called "˜C’ level executive roles--Chief Talent or Personnel Officer--that represent the interests of the Human Resources department. This is a significant change from past years, during which Human Resources was generally considered a lower priority, even a necessary evil, and a destination for executives that did not thrive in other departments.
This change has had an important beneficiary--women. An extraordinarily high proportion of Human Resources departments are run by women, reflecting the composition of the departments themselves. For better or worse, Human Resources positions have long been perceived as natural roles for women, as women are generally regarded as more nurturing and service-oriented than their male counterparts. As these traits are considered core to the functioning of effective Human Resources personnel, the advancement of women within HR departments has been routine and that, in turn, has attracted more women. Additionally, the lifestyle of workers in the Human Resources department is often not as demanding in terms of hours and weekends worked as it is for workers in other departments; many women with children find this appealing.
The preponderance of female heads of Human Resources departments and the higher prioritization of talent development have combined to give many female executives increased authority and influence. Many women, after performing well in a Human Resources capacity, have been given additional responsibilities in other departments. Also, more female executives have been asked to represent their organizations at industry conferences, further increasing their visibility.
The passage suggests that all of the following contribute to the relatively high proportion of female heads of Human Resources departments EXCEPT:
A) The perception that being service-oriented is important for Human Resources personnel.
B) The perception that advancement for women in such departments is common.
C) The perception that such departments accommodate more balanced work schedules than other departments.
D) The proportion of women working in such departments.
E) The increasing visibility of women at industry conferences.

[jantika]

The struggle is between A and E. Here is the official MGMAT explanation for this question
(A) Both the perception of women as service-oriented and the additional belief that this quality is important for Human Resources personnel are specifically mentioned in the passage as reasons for the high proportion of female heads of HR Departments. The 3rd and 4th sentences of the 2nd paragraph read in part: "women are generally regarded to be more nurturing and service-oriented than their male counterparts . . . as these traits are considered core to the functioning of Human Resources personnel, the advancement of women within HR departments has been routine . . ."
(E) CORRECT. Though the increasing visibility of women at industry conferences is mentioned in the passage, it is presented as a result of the increased importance given to Human Resources officers, and not a contributing factor to women becoming the heads of HR departments. Although it is possible that this increasing visibility would further encourage women to join HR departments, this is not indicated in the passage.

[jantika]

"For better or worse, Human Resources positions have long been perceived as natural roles for women, as women are generally regarded as more nurturing and service-oriented than their male counterparts. As these traits are considered core to the functioning of effective Human Resources personnel, the advancement of women within HR departments has been routine and that, in turn, has attracted more women. "

It states that HR positions are perceived to be natural roles for women.... perceived by whom? world or women... since there is no subject explicitly mentioned, I go with world. So generally HR positions are more suitable for women because they are more nurturing and service-oriented. It did not say that because they are more caring and service-oriented women preferred these HR roles!
Because men are stronger, lumbar work is more suitable for them, don't mean that, all men who end up in lumber work do that because this work needs strength. They might be doing it because it is more suitable for them or because of money?
Since women perform well through their natural traits, they get promoted and it is these promotions that attract women in to HR jobs.

So I strongly feel that this should be the answer.

[jantika]

Why not option E?

According to me, consider these two lines in the passage

"... the advancement of women within HR departments has been routine and that, in turn, has attracted more women."

"....further increasing their visibility. "

increasing their visibility is shown as an indicator of advancement.... So seeing this women would find the encouragement of joining HR... another factor....

Can someone please given convince me why answer E is right? Thank you.

[RonPurewal]

"For better or worse, Human Resources positions have long been perceived as natural roles for women, as women are generally regarded as more nurturing and service-oriented than their male counterparts. As these traits are considered core to the functioning of effective Human Resources personnel, the advancement of women within HR departments has been routine and that, in turn, has attracted more women. "

It states that HR positions are perceived to be natural roles for women.... perceived by whom? world or women... since there is no subject explicitly mentioned, I go with world. So generally HR positions are more suitable for women because they are more nurturing and service-oriented. It did not say that because they are more caring and service-oriented women preferred these HR roles!

Read the last sentence in your quote again.
* "These traits" (including the quality of being service-oriented) have helped women "advance".
Direct evidence.

"Preference" is not the issue. Check out the question again -- we want reasons why a strikingly high % of HR bosses are female. Those reasons may be related to "preferences"; they may not.

[RonPurewal]

Why not option E?

According to me, consider these two lines in the passage

"... the advancement of women within HR departments has been routine and that, in turn, has attracted more women."

"....further increasing their visibility. "

increasing their visibility is shown as an indicator of advancement.... So seeing this women would find the encouragement of joining HR... another factor....

The purple thing is a random invention. The passage doesn't say, or even hint at, any such thing.

Look at the explanation for that choice (which you've quoted yourself in this thread). The last sentence of that explanation is, essentially, an explicit response to your question.

[RonPurewal]

By the way --

* Please read the forum rules (first post in every folder).

* Please title your threads properly. Per the forum rules, the thread title should correspond to the first few words of the passage and/or problem, and/or to the title of the problem (as given in your CAT summary).
We can't continue to respond to threads that are titled incorrectly, as such threads are largely useless to later readers searching the forum.

Thanks.

[jantika]

Sorry for the mistakes Sir, I made the changes to the title as per the rules. I did even change the other thread title too. Thank you.

[tim]

Cool. Let us know if there are any further questions on this topic.

[JbhB682]

5.Which of the following best describes the main idea of the passage?

(A) Human Resources departments are attractive to women for a number of reasons.
(B) Women are more effective at developing and retaining talent than their male counterparts.
(C) The increasing emphasis on the recruitment and treatment of talent has benefited many female executives.
(D) Women are being promoted to lead Human Resources departments more and more frequently.
(E) The recruitment and development of talent is receiving greater attention and emphasis in many organizations.


Why not E on this one ?

I do agree that E is mentioned in P1 whereas C is described in P2 and P3

However,
E seemed to me, more high level whereas C, seems to me to be sub-details under the larger issue

Larger issue : (i.e. The recruitment and development of talent is receiving greater attention and emphasis in many organizations.)
Sub-detail : The increasing emphasis on the recruitment and treatment of talent has benefited many female executives.

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

I would question your approach to this kind of question. Counting the number of references to an answer, or dividing points into "high-level" or "sub-detail" are, in my opinion, not reliable approaches.

I encourage you to consider the story of the passage. As I understand it, the story runs: 'background: HR has become more important; consequence: benefit for women'. If this article were to appear in a magazine, I would expect the headline to run something like "increase in status of HR benefits women". If you haven't tried out this "headline technique" for general questions before, it may be worth experimenting with.