In the 2008 Recession, a Lot of Male, Middle-Aged Corporate

In the 2008 recession, a lot of male, middle-aged corporate executives experienced downward mobility firsthand. At the same time, there may have been an increase in the participation by women, in part because:

A) job training that preceded that downturn afforded many women the chance to prove themselves as executives
B) women are homemakers and were not working at that time
C) women are paid less than men and so maintained jobs during the 2008 recession
D) women were able to take the jobs that men left