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 which of the following about the “additional responsibilities” cited in the second sentence of the third paragraph?
They are probably in areas not as traditionally associated with female leadership.
They are in departments that used to be run by a man.
They are similar to responsibilities that these women have already successfully undertaken.
They include speaking at industry conferences on behalf of these women’s organizations.
They are more important than these women’s prior responsibilities in the Human Resources area.

This question asks us to infer something about the “additional responsibilities” described in the third paragraph of the passage. The only information we are given about these “additional responsibilities” is that they are awarded to women who have performed well in a Human Resources capacity, and that they lie outside of the Human Resources department itself. The correct answer choice will be closely tied to one or both of these facts.

(A) CORRECT. The passage explains, in paragraph two, that women have been strongly associated with the traits and characteristics valued in a Human Resources capacity. If the "additional responsibilities" are in "other departments," then those responsibilities are likely to be in areas that are less traditionally associated with women than is HR.

(B) We know only that the departmental responsibilities are not in the Human Resources area; we do not know that the women are taking over, or even merely expanding their responsibilities into, departments that "used to" be run by a man.

(C) The passage indicates that the “additional responsibilities” are given as a reward for strong performance; they may or may not be similar to those that these women have already performed. Indeed, they could very well be new types of responsibilities that are meant to stretch and challenge these executives.

(D) The activity of speaking at industry conferences is explicitly described later in the paragraph as an additional way that women have gained authority and influence. The wording ("Also...") indicates a new thought compared to the “additional responsibilities” of the previous sentence, rather than an example of those responsibilities.

(E) The passage describes the increasing emphasis on the importance of Human Resources activities to many organizations. The new responsibilities in other departments may or may not be more important, particularly as they are in addition to these women’s prior responsibilities. For example, a successful Human Resources executive could be given the additional responsibility of producing marketing materials for the Company, which may or may not be more crucial to the Company’s success than her earlier responsibilities.

I am unable to se how (A) can be inferred more closely than (C). The 2nd para does say that the HRD is becoming more female oriented but never mentions any other dept that is not, or for that matter says nothing of other depts. So how can we infer that "other depts" are probably not as traditionally associated with female leadership. (C) seems to be a much closer inference. The passage as a whole clearly stereotypes HR as a female job and says that it has given women more opportunities, clearly indicating that non-female suited depts may not have offered such opportunities. So if success in HR helps them get other jobs, even these other jobs must be similar. Of they are not like HR jobs why didn;t the companies offer these jobs to woemn earlier. I dunno how to articulate this but on the whole I just feel that although both (A) and (C) can be inferred, (C) is a more obvious inference. Comments?

Hi Rahul,

I apologize -- as with another post of yours, I was passed your question but overlooked it by accident.

The passage states that "an extraordinarily high proportion of Human Resources departments are run by women, reflecting the composition of the departments themselves. For better or worse, HR positions have long been perceived as natural roles for women..." These sentences do strongly imply a comparison with other departments, in particular with regard to their leadership (i.e., these departments would be less associated with female leadership than HR). This supports answer choice A.

On the other hand, it cannot be inferred that the "additional responsibilities" are actually similar to the old responsibilities. As the explanation states, the new responsibilities may deliberately be quite different, in order to develop the executive. Nothing in the passage actually pushes either way.

I'm not sure I've completely satisfied your concern, but I hope this is helpful.

Source: Manhattan GMAT CAT

The tone of the passage suggests that the author regards the changes described in the passage as:

A: overdue redress for issues historically faced by women
B: a natural result of business and personnel trends
C: an unfortunate continuation of pervasive misconceptions
D: a necessary step in the realignment of management
E: a formidable new impediment to social changes

OA: B

How to solve this?

Explanation from source
-----------------------
This question asks for the best description of the way in which the author regards the changes described in the passage, namely, that talent recruitment and development has been increasingly emphasized by many companies, and that many female executives have benefited as a result. The tone of the passage does not seem to indicate a very strong positive or negative outlook on these changes. Therefore, we should look for an answer choice that adopts a balanced perspective.

For this one, just look at the answer choices and identify the adjectives at work: this change is not "overdue", "unfortunate", "necessary", or "formidable". The author is simply tracing a trend that appears to be a "natural" result..

_________________
Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor

Hi,

Can some one please explain me why is answer (B) wrong? Second says about the departments that were run by man traditionally Isn't it the same as saying the same thing as A which talk about the leadership roles?

Please explain the difference between a and b.


Priyanka

Priyanka,
I think the stated explanations sums this up really well, so I have re-pasted them below. Let me just say that in reading comp every word of an answer choice MUST BE correct or the answer is wrong. In answer choice B, do we KNOW that the departments used to be "run by a man"? Not necessarily. The only thing we know is that women are given "additional responsibilities" after proving themselves in HR. We can infer from the passage that women are kind of working their way into these responsibilities, and such responsibilities are thus traditionally not as associated with women doing them as are the responsibilities in an HR department.

That is an important difference from a department that was "RUN by a man", which we don't necessarily know. Notice that A is a little more general and vague, which is harder to prove wrong.

(A) CORRECT. The passage explains, in paragraph two, that women have been strongly associated with the traits and characteristics valued in a Human Resources capacity. If the "additional responsibilities" are in "other departments," then those responsibilities are likely to be in areas that are less traditionally associated with women than is HR.

(B) We know only that the departmental responsibilities are not in the Human Resources area; we do not know that the women are taking over, or even merely expanding their responsibilities into, departments that "used to" be run by a man.

_________________
Jamie Nelson
ManhattanGMAT Instructor