The Effects of Diversity and Network Ties on Innovations: The Emergence of a New Scientific Field
Open accessAbstract
This study examines the influence of different types of diversity, both observable and unobservable, on the creation of innovative ideas. Our framework draws on theory and research on information processing, social categorization, coordination, and homophily to posit the influence of cognitive, gender, and country diversity on innovation. Our longitudinal model is based on a unique data set of 1,354 researchers who helped create the new scientific field of oncofertility, by collaborating on 469 publications over a 4-year period. We capture the differences among researchers along cognitive, country, and gender dimensions, as well as examine how the resulting diversity or homophily influences the formation of collaborative innovation networks. We find that innovation, operationalized as publishing in a new scientific discipline, benefits from both homophily and diversity. Homophily in country of residence and working with prior collaborators help reduce uncertainty in the interactions associated with innovation, while diversity in knowledge enables the recombinant knowledge required for innovation.
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Cognitive diversity is important for innovation.
“Cognitive diversity is also important for innovation [54]”
From Ethical considerations for the use of brain–computer interfaces for cognitive enhancement (2024) · cites this paper as [54]
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Ethical considerations for the use of brain–computer interfaces for cognitive enhancement
Gordon, E. C., & Seth, A. K. (2024) · PLOS Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3002899 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
- Authors
- Lungeanu, A., & Contractor, N. S.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Venue
- American Behavioral Scientist
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2014-11-14
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 548-564
- ISSN
- 0002-7642 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-3381
- PMC
- PMC4643280
- OpenAlex
- W2151512924
- Cited by
- 90
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 5.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- American Behavioral Scientist (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Northwestern University
- National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (UL1DE019587)
- National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR025741)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U54HD076188, P50HD076188)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Team Dynamics and Performance
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Innovation and Knowledge Management
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Interdisciplinary Research and Collaboration
- Keywords
- diversity, homophily, innovation, cognitive diversity, gender diversity, collaborative innovation networks, oncofertility, knowledge recombination, social categorization, research collaboration, uncertainty reduction
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