US law says that a hiring system that results in significant differences in the hiring rates for men and women is illegal, even if the difference in unintentional, UNLESS the organization can show a legitimate job-related reason why the difference exists. In which case could the organization most likely show such a reason?

Question

A. A higher proportion of women are hired for a nursing job.
B. A higher proportion of men are hired for a firefighter job.
C. A higher proportion of women are hired for an elementary school teacher job.
D. A higher proportion of men are hired for a bus driver job.

Answer 1

B. A higher proportion of men are hired for a firefighter job.

Be sure that students understand that the question focuses on hiring rate (the percentage of female applicants who are hired compared to the percentage of male applicants who are hired) and not on the percentage of the positions that are filled by men or women. It is perfectly legal to hire 90% women for a nursing job when roughly 90% of the applicants are women. The law comes into play when, for example, 45% of female applicants are hired for the nursing position, but only 10% of the male applicants. (The law is, of course, more complex than presented here – the point of the question is to consider jobs for which there are differences between men and women that are objectively job-related, as opposed to those which are more stereotypical.)

The job of firefighter requires significant upper body strength, and men (on average) have significantly greater upper body strength than do women (on average).

It is true (and legal) that there are more total women hired as nurses and elementary school teachers – there are also more women who seek out these jobs and careers. But there is nothing presented in the text suggesting that men would be less effective in those roles were they to pursue them. Similarly, there are substantially more men who work as bus drivers, and more men who seek out that profession, but nothing in the data suggests that women who pursued that career would be less capable.