Some employees have raised doubts about the manager’s impartiali...
The argument states that some employees have raised doubts about the manager's impartiality in awarding performance ratings, specifically suggesting that he is biased towards female employees. The argument then presents some statistics to refute this claim, stating that the manager has given a rating of 4 or higher to 80% of the male employees and only 65% of the female employees. The conclusion drawn is that the manager has not discriminated against male employees.
To identify the flaw in the argument, we need to find an option that presents a possible alternative explanation or assumption that undermines the conclusion. Let's analyze the options provided:
(A) A large number of the employees whom the manager evaluated were male.
This option suggests that there were more male employees than female employees evaluated by the manager. However, this information doesn't directly address the manager's impartiality or bias.
(B) Many managers find it difficult to be objective when awarding ratings to employees since they always have a personal bias/favorites.
This option suggests a general tendency among managers, but it doesn't specifically address the situation of the manager in question or the gender bias observed. Therefore, it is not directly relevant to the argument.
(C) The manager is more biased against male employees who complained to HR department than the ones who did not.
This option introduces a new factor of bias against male employees who complained to HR. While it addresses potential bias, it doesn't directly address the observed bias towards female employees or explain the discrepancy in performance ratings between male and female employees.
(D) The partiality against male employees that the manager is accused of has been of male employees who did not get good ratings last year.
This option suggests that the bias against male employees is limited to those who did not receive good ratings the previous year. However, this information doesn't directly address the observed bias towards female employees or explain why a higher percentage of male employees received good ratings compared to female employees.
(E) A greater percent of male employees deserved to get 4+ ratings, while a smaller percent of female employees should have got such ratings, than the final numbers.
This option provides an alternative explanation for the observed bias. It suggests that a higher percentage of male employees deserved high ratings, while a lower percentage of female employees deserved them. This alternative explanation undermines the argument's conclusion that the manager's ratings were not biased against female employees.
Therefore, the correct answer is (E) because it presents a plausible alternative explanation for the observed bias in the manager's ratings.