Work group diversity and group performance: an integrative model and research agenda.

Diversity expands the pool of information, perspectives, and experiences available to a work group while also increasing the possibility of subgroup formation, conflict, and exclusion.

“Instead, diversity appears to expand the pool of information, perspectives, and experiences available to a work group while also increasing the possibility of subgroup formation, conflict, and exclusion.”

The categorization-elaboration model proposes that informational and social-categorization pathways can operate simultaneously and that contextual moderators determine which pathway dominates.

“Instead, it proposes that both can operate simultaneously and that contextual moderators determine which pathway dominates (van Knippenberg et al., 2004).”

The categorization-elaboration model predicts that diversity is beneficial when task-relevant perspectives are exchanged and processed, but harmful social categorization can interrupt this process.

“The categorizationelaboration model predicts that diversity is beneficial when task-relevant perspectives are exchanged and processed, but harmful social categorization can interrupt this process (van Knippenberg et al., 2004).”

Diverse teams can potentially outperform homogeneous ones to the extent that they engage in information elaboration.

“As a result, diverse teams can potentially outperform homogeneous ones to the extent that they engage in information elaboration (Van Knippenberg et al., 2004).”

According to the Categorization-Elaboration Model, the effects of diversity on team performance can be understood by considering the favorable and unfavorable processes that diversity may instigate.

“According to the Categorization-Elaboration Model (CEM; Van Knippenberg et al., 2004), the effects of diversity on team performance can be understood by considering the favorable and unfavorable processes that diversity may instigate (Joshi & Roh, 2009;Van Knippenberg et al., 2004;Williams & O'Reilly, 1998).”

Subgroup categorization and concomitant intergroup bias can impair team performance.

“Thus, subgroup categorization and concomitant intergroup bias can impair team performance (Pelled, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1999;Van Knippenberg et al., 2004).”

Intergroup bias and information elaboration are not mutually exclusive, but they tend to be negatively related, and at any given point in time one process will typically be more dominant and predict performance better than the other.

“These processes are not mutually exclusive, but they tend to be negatively related, and at any given point in time one process will typically be more dominant and predict performance better than the other (Van Knippenberg et al., 2004).”

Diversity can bring about favorable as well as unfavorable processes in teams.

“First, it is widely accepted that diversity can bring about favorable as well as unfavorable processes in teams (Milliken & Martins, 1996;Van Knippenberg, De Dreu, & Homan, 2004;Williams & O'Reilly, 1998), but scholarly understanding of what team leaders can do to promote the favorable effects and curtail the unfavorable effects of diversity is limited.”

Research in the last decade has examined a variety of moderators that can explain why diversity in some cases instigates intergroup bias and in other cases stimulates information elaboration.

“Informed by CEM (Van Knippenberg et al., 2004), research in the last decade has examined a variety of moderators that can explain why diversity in some cases instigates intergroup bias and in other cases stimulates information elaboration (for an overview, see Guillaume, Dawson, Otaye-Ebede, Woods, & West, 2017).”

Diverse teams are less likely to experience intergroup bias when social categories are less salient.

“One stream of research has shown that diverse teams are less likely to experience intergroup bias when social categories are less salient (Homan et al., 2007a(Homan et al., , 2008;;Nishii, 2013;Van Knippenberg et al., 2004).”

All types of diversity can potentially instigate both intergroup bias and information elaboration.

“All types of diversity can potentially instigate both processes (Van Knippenberg et al., 2004)”