As Head of Moderation for Linked:HR, I regularly go through Member Discussions. As I went through the list today I came across a question on diversity. Specifically the Member wanted to know if diversity had a measurable impact on the organization.
The question reminded me of the literature search I conducted when I wrote my book on diversity (Diversity Training, published by the American Society for Training and Development). At that time, I thought that if I looked hard enough I would find evidence of the positive impacts of diversity. Interestingly enough, the evidence I found was pretty mixed. For instance, a very large study conducted by Professor Thomas Kochan and colleagues from various large U.S. universities (Kochan, Bezrukova, Ely, Jackson, Joshi, Jehn, Leonard, Levine, & Thomas, 2003) found that "racial and gender diversity do not have the positive effect on performance proposed by those with a more optimistic view" (p. 17). The authors went on to say that racial and ethnic diversity did not impact group processes negatively either... in other words... diversity, at least the type of diversity defined solely by race and gender, seems to matter very little, one way or the other.
It makes sense. Indeed, the belief that increasing the gender/ethnic diversity of an organization will improve its productivity or profitability belies logic. For instance, my own ethnicity is Brazilian/Portuguese. Does that make me more productive? Does my presence in a group make it more productive? Why?
When I ask this question in a group of colleagues passionate about diversity I often see raised eye brows. It's not your ethnicity that impacts productivity, some claim. It's the fact that your ethnicity is connected to differences in perspectives and world views. A group including a variety of perspectives is more productive.
That's a nice thought. However, my ethnicity does not necessarily imply in differences in perspective. It is likely, instead, that other factors contribute to my perspectives. For instance, I may be somewhat pessimistic at times, seeing possible "holes" in situations and predicting problems before they occur. That trait gives me a different perspective than that of optimists - and has nothing to do with my Brazilian/Portuguese heritage (or, for that matter, with the fact that I'm a woman).
Don't get me wrong - I am not saying gender/ethnic diversity do not matter. Neither am I saying that certain world views are not connected with one's gender and background. My ethnicity, for instance, relates to my cultural heritage and my cultural heritage does bring a certain worlview. My gender gives me some gender-specific experiences. What I am saying, though, is that these perspectives by themselves are not likely to make me more productive. They are not likely to help a team in which I participate become more productive. They may or may not help and may or may not be important - depending on the case.
Of course, my colleague's question may have had to do with far more than gender/ethnic diversity. She may have been interested in the measurable impact of differences in general... differences in personality traits, functions, experiences, etc. In a nutshell, the question could be "Could a company which values differences in perspectives, worldviews, and personalities be more productive? Does diversity in general matter?"
My answer to that question is " it depends." Differences in perspectives may be particularly helpful in problem solving and in adaptive situations. Further, differences in perspectives may permit adaptation to a changing environment. From that standpoint, differences are good.
These same differences, however, may invite a team to debate, discuss, and make changes. When the task is simple and straightforward, when no adaptation is required, and when originality does not matter, I daresay diversity will not improve productivity - instead, it will likely reduce it.
From a personal standpoint, I like diversity. Differences make things interesting, and differences help me learn. Let us stop and think, however, before we mindlessly advocate the idea that diversity is a magical potion capable of producing results. Diversity means differences... and differences by themselves are likely neither good nor bad but simply neutral.
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