How Diversity Matters in the US Science and Engineering Workforce: A Critical Review Considering Integration in Teams, Fields, and Organizational Contexts

Abstract

How the race and gender diversity of team members is related to innovative science and technology outcomes is debated in the scholarly literature. Some studies find diversity is linked to creativity and productivity, other studies find that diversity has no effect or even negative effects on team outcomes. Based on a critical review of the literature, this paper explains the seemingly contradictory findings through careful attention to the organizational contexts of team diversity. We distinguish between representational diversity and full integration of minority scientists. Representational diversity, where organizations have workforces that match the pool of degree recipients in relevant fields, is a necessary but not sufficient condition for diversity to yield benefits. Full integration of minority scientists (i.e., including women and people of color) in an interaction context that allows for more level information exchange, unimpeded by the asymmetrical power relationships that are common across many scientific organizations, is when the full potential for diversity to have innovative outcomes is realized. Under conditions of equitable and integrated work environments, diversity leads to creativity, innovation, productivity, and positive reputational (status) effects. Thus, effective policies for diversity in science and engineering must also address integration in the organizational contexts in which diverse teams are embedded.

A hands‐on introduction to medical physics and radiation therapy for middle school students

“…Though diverse organizations, including in science and engineering, tend to outperform their more homogeneous counterparts, only about half of U.S. scientists and engineers working in STEM fields identify as a classification other than white men . Over the time period from 2013 to 2017, the American Physical Society reported that fewer than 3% of physics bachelor's degrees were awarded to African Americans, and fewer than 9% to Hispanic Americans.…”

Information elaboration and epistemic effects of diversity

“…Demographic diversity refers to diversity in demographic categories, such as gender, nationality, ethnicity, race, or religious affiliation, whereas task-related diversity refers to diversity in characteristics presumed to be more directly relevant to the task in question, such as education, experience, or expertise (Horwitz and Horwitz 2007, p. 990). Similar distinctions are drawn in several ways in the literature, including identity versus cognitive or shallow versus deep (see Hong and Page 2004;Horwitz and Horwitz 2007;Joshi and Roh 2009;Lungeanu and Contractor 2015;Milliken and Martins 1996;Page 2017;Phillips 2017;Smith-Doerr et al 2017;Stahl et al 2010;van Dijk et al 2012). We adopt the demographic versus task-related distinction here, as this appears to be the most commonly used.…”

Science policies: How should science funding be allocated? An evolutionary biologists’ perspective

“…We believe that a continued increase in explicit consideration for diversity and equality remains important, especially in light of the multiple studies suggesting that the likelihood of breakthrough research increases when a research team harbours a diversity of researchers (Freeman & Huang, ; Powell, ). Importantly, such enhancement of the potential for breakthrough research only occurs for processes of true integration of perspectives and not for “representational” diversity (Smith‐Doerr, Alegria, & Sacco, ). We thus believe that funding agencies should increase their investment in funding support that is structured to maximize true integration of perspectives.…”