Low Salaries

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Low Salaries

by sanp_l » Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:35 am
Which of the following best completes the passage below?
A primary factor in perpetuating the low salaries of women workers has been their segregation in the so-called pink-collar occupations, such as nursing, teaching, library science, and secretarial work. Partly because these jobs have traditionally been held by women, their salary levels have been depressed, and, despite increased attempts to unionize these workers in recent years, their pay continues to lag. Moreover, although a large percentage of women than ever before are now entering and remaining in the job market, most continue to gravitate toward the pink-collar fields, despite the lower salaries. It seems clear, therefore, that if the average salaries of women workers are to approach those of men, ______
(A) labor unions must redouble their efforts to improve the lot of working women
(B) society's perception of pink-collar jobs as less important and less demanding than other jobs must be changed
(C) more men must be encouraged to enter fields traditionally occupied by women
(D) the number of jobs in the pink-collar fields relative to the size of the work force as a whole must be markedly increased
(E) more women must enter occupations other than those traditionally reserved for them

OA: E I don't understand how it can be the correct one when the passage says that women gravitate towards these low paying jobs although a large number are present in the workforce. How can more women entering different occupations helps when they will gravitate???


I answered it as Option C .
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by DanaJ » Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:43 am
I actually completely agree with the OA. The fact that women gravitate towards these pink collar jobs is a negative factor affecting their pay, so the best thing for them to do is to "stop gravitating". The only option that encapsulates this is the OA, which suggest that women should go for other trades.

The answer you picked is incorrect because the statute of men is not discussed in the paragraph. Besides, the fact that some men would enter the pink collar "sector" does not automatically mean that salaries will go up - the "presence" of men is not a guarantee of higher pay. Look at it this way: in the construction business, there's plenty of men, but the salaries are not that great (at least not in my country).

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by sanp_l » Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:56 am
Thanks Dana J for that but i am still not convinced. My concern is as below:

The passage says "Moreover, although a large percentage of women than ever before are now entering and remaining in the job market, most continue to gravitate toward the pink-collar fields, despite the lower salaries".

The words "most continue to gravitate toward" indicate that they are in other trades and in large percentage. They are there and thats why they gravitate. Option E suggests more should enter other occupations. Given that case, eventually they would also gravitate. Won't be better put if it would have said that they stop the move?

Can you explain once again.
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by vijay_venky » Fri Sep 25, 2009 4:42 am
I also went with C initially, but consider the premise of the argument "Partly because these jobs have traditionally been held by women, their salary levels have been depressed, and, despite increased attempts to unionize these workers in recent years, their pay continues to lag."

It suggests that the reasons for the depressed salary levels are more than one and the traditional hold of the women is only partly responsible for it.

Moreover if we go through the options there are only two contenders C and E.

C: If more men enter the market what best affect it would have on the salaries? Would they increase for sure? I think there is a bit of skepticism here because of the use of "partly".

E: But on the other hand if more women enter different markets than the ones traditionally held by them (and co-incidentally lower paid), the scope for the increase of the average salary is more.

And I think the premise "Moreover, although a large percentage of women than ever before are now entering and remaining in the job market, most continue to gravitate toward the pink-collar fields, despite the lower salaries." is used to emphasize that although more women enter the market, their gravitation towards pink collar jobs is the reason for the low average salaries.

Though a revealed correct option could make everything fall in place,I hope this helps.

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by DanaJ » Fri Sep 25, 2009 6:23 am
Well, while I know it's a bit confusing, you need to see that "entering other trades" (other than pink collar jobs, that is) will mean a stop to the "gravitating" towards the pink collar jobs. This "gravitating" refers to the moment of entry on the job market, not after entry.

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by sanp_l » Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:44 am
Thanks a LOT....to both of you.

I kind of now understand that what you guys say stands true. Partly in case of men entering and as pointed out by Dana J...""gravitating" refers to the moment of entry on the job market, not after entry"...makes sense.
It was so confusing when i first got it. :)
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by lunarpower » Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:11 am
eh. i don't like this question; it's probably from a shady source.

both (c) and (e) are workable answers. if either of those things occurs, then men's and women's salaries will be brought closer together.

@ dana
Besides, the fact that some men would enter the pink collar "sector" does not automatically mean that salaries will go up - the "presence" of men is not a guarantee of higher pay.
actually, the assumption that the pink collar salaries WON'T go up will support this choice. if the pink collar salaries stay low, and men start to enter those fields, then men's salaries will go down - thus bringing the salaries closer together, in exactly the same way as would occur if more women joined the traditionally male professions.

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there are only two reasons favoring (e) over (c), and only one of them is actually valid:
(1) the passage says "average salaries of women workers are to approach those of men" --> this suggests that the women's salaries should rise while the men's stay the same. this would then require that the women enter the men's fields, not vice versa.
this is weak, but it is THE ONLY REASON why (e) is better than (c).
(2) (this applies only to people in the u.s.; i can't speak for students or moderators in other countries) our media is extremely saturated with messages about women entering traditionally male fields, but not the reverse, to the point where (e) might unconsciously seem more reasonable than (c). in fact, this is probably why the authors of this problem think that there's a significant enough difference between the two.

what's the source of this problem?
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by sanp_l » Sat Sep 26, 2009 6:44 am
@lunarpower: I got this question from LSAT CR Test series document.
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