On 11 Mar 2013, at 16:02, Dan Harkins <dharkins@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> - It is a well-established fact that diverse groups are smarter >> and make better decisions than less-diverse groups. > > I would really like to see this statement either backed up by > peer-reviewed apolitical scientific research or withdrawn by the > signatories of the open letter. It is highly offensive. I'm in no way an expect in any of this, but I've heard it said (in other contexts than this discussion) that diversity increases the quality of decision making in groups. Your message piqued my interest as to whether there is valid evidence for whether this was actually the case or not. To cut a long story short, after a bit of investigation, I'd have to say that current scientific thought definitely leans towards this in fact being the case. A selection of references that seem to appear quite often in the various bits of literature I've had a browse around for anyone who is interested: Jackson, S. E. May, K. E. & Whitney, K. (1995) Understanding the Dynamics of diversity in decision making teams in R.A. Guzzo et al, (1995) Team effectiveness and decision making in organisations: San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass. Johnson, W. B. & Packer, A. E. (1987) Workforce 2000, Work and workers for the 21st century: Washington DC: Department of Labour12. Krause, S., James, R., Faria, J. J., Ruxton, G. D. and Krause, J., 2011. Swarm intelligence in humans: diversity can trump ability. Animal Behaviour, 81 (5), pp. 941-948. Lumby, J. (2006) Conceptualizing diversity and leadership: evidence from ten cases: Educational management and administration, Vol. 34, (2), 151-165. Phillips, Katherine W., Katie A. Liljenquist and Margaret A. Neale. 2009. Is the pain worth the gain? The advantages and liabilities of agreeing with socially distinct newcomers. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 35: 336-350. Mohammed, S., Ringseis, E., Cognitive Diversity and Consensus in Group Decision Making: The Role of Inputs, Processes, and Outcomes, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Volume 85, Issue 2, July 2001, Pages 310-335, Sommers, S.R. ( 2006). On racial diversity and group decision making: Identifying multiple effects of racial composition on jury deliberations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 597-612. Watson, W. E. & Kumar, K. & Michaelsen, L. K.(1993) Cultural Diversity impact on interaction process and performance: Comparing homogenous and diverse task groups, Academy of management Journal, 36, 590-602. Best, Rhys. -- Dr Rhys Smith Identity, Access, and Middleware Specialist Cardiff University & Janet - the UK's research and education network email: smith@xxxxxxxxxxxxx / rhys.smith@xxxxxx GPG: 0xDE2F024C