Critical Reasoning

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

I would go with E .

If women go out of their niche jobs as supposed by people then only their salaries can approach an average that of men's.

AIM GMAT wrote:I would go with E .

If women go out of their niche jobs as supposed by people then only their salaries can approach an average that of men's.

Explanation for other options :-

(A) labor unions must redouble their efforts to improve the lot of working women -- [Irrelevant to topic ]
(B) society's perception of pink-collar jobs as less important and less demanding than other jobs must be changed -- [Perception ain't gonna change the average salary ]
(C) more men must be encouraged to enter fields traditionally occupied by women -- [Men entering women field is not going to help as we need that women's avg salary to increase , this option can be tempting while answering]
(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 -- [Increase or decrease of Pink collared job is out of scope to discuss , this will not help ]

If "more women must enter occupations other than those traditionally reserved for them" is the answer, then the salaries of those women who have enterd the new fields approach the salaries of men...
but what about those women who are already in the pink-collar jobs?? how will the salary of those women increase??

sridevipavan wrote:If "more women must enter occupations other than those traditionally reserved for them" is the answer, then the salaries of those women who have enterd the new fields approach the salaries of men...
but what about those women who are already in the pink-collar jobs?? how will the salary of those women increase??

It seems clear, therefore, that if the average salaries of women workers are to approach those of men

So , the highlighted text tells us that the objective is to make average salary of women somewhat equal to that of men , that can be achieved only if women take jobs better than pink collared jobs those will gv them a better salary .

To discuss about the women already in pink collar job is irrelevant , we need AVERAGE salary better not each and every women salary to increase.

Its also mentioned in the argument that " 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".

How does the statement above help in answering the argument? Or is it just a dummy premise??

I agree with AIM-GMAT.

IMO E

sridevipavan wrote:Its also mentioned in the argument that " 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".

How does the statement above help in answering the argument? Or is it just a dummy premise??

HI sridevipavan ,

The premise you mentioned is telling us despite the fact that more women are taking up jobs but they are approching the lower salary jobs that are assumed to be women jobs , so to increase the AVR sal they need to take better jobs i mean once not reserved for women , the once which men are doing , with better salary , so as to have a comparable salary to men .

You are altogether missing the Average situation in this argument .

In case of any more queries just shoot ... moree than happy to help .

@sridevipavan : Where did you get this question from ? Well written.

AIM GMAT has destroyed the argument in the best possible way. I will just put it in different way if it helps you further.

Scenario: A type of job dominated by women leading to low salaries of women worker.We want to increase the AVERAGE salary of women ?

Quantitatively speaking, how is it possible? either you increase their salary that is very unlikely a per the argument. What if women start to enter in non-traditional jobs for women -- these are the jobs that pay more than normal salaries of women. this will lead to increase in AVERAGE. makes sense?