In a Recent Hiring Period, XYZ Corporation Hired 23% of the Males

Multiple Choice

In a recent hiring period, XYZ Corporation hired 23% of the males who applied and 11% of the females. A lawsuit was contemplated because these numbers seemed to indicate that there was gender discrimination. On closer examination, it was found that XYZ was hiring for only two of its divisions: engineering and secretarial. Applicants applying by gender per department are given in the following table: Which of the following is NOT correct?

A) The overall percentage of female applicants hired is less than that of male applicants.
B) We are observing Simpson's paradox.
C) We compare the company's overall percentage hired with the percentage hired for each division.
D) The absolute numbers involved in calculating the percentages caused a paradoxical situation.