*Spoiler* AAMC 1 FL P/S Q 56 annoying question

[Alpha-ketogluterate]

Hi,

I cannot justify this answer. The question reads: "Based on the passage, which conclusion is best supported?"

B) Race and Gender discrimination manifest in similar ways.
D) Minority women are Especially subject to discrimination.

So here's the thing I get that "...discriminatory practices that harm women and minorities." on its own does NOT imply that minority women are specially at risk, and often this is a wrong answer type in the CARS section where only the info from the passage must be used. However, in the P/S section, as all the other sciences, we are often required to combine the passage with already known and well supported theories.

The relevant theory is Intersectionality. And this is literally a textbook definition of it. I just do not see how this answer is not supported. If I was doing a CARS passage I would have picked B here, without a doubt. But in the sciences an answer like D is usually better as it is not just hinted at in the passage (by the very last line in this case) but it is also well documented and supported by outside research we are supposed to be aware of.

Can anyone give me a logical reason as to why B is superior to D other than that the last paragraph cannot mean to imply D, as I do not think that is a strong enough justification, it explains this question but does not fit the pattern I have seen so far in the science passages.

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[mk536]

B is superior to D because the passage says nothing about the effect of being both a minority and a woman, but there is plenty of support for B given in the table and passage. Don't overthink it. Stick to the information in the passage. Sure, use your content knowledge to help interpret the passage, but don't try to make a bunch of expansive connections beyond what you're given. That's the direct route to a wrong answer.

As an aside though, intersectionality is much more complex than "women face discrimination and minorities face discrimination, so minority women face the most discrimination." In fact, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that due to the way race and gender intersect in the workplace, it's minority men that face more workplace discrimination compared to minority women.