On Mar 11, 2013, at 6:54 PM, Dan Harkins <dharkins(_at_)lounge(_dot_)org> wrote:
In other words, the statement that gender and racial diversity in
groups makes them "smarter" has no basis in fact. Do you feel that
an all-female group is stupider than a similarly sized group that is
equal parts male and female? Really?
Actually, Dan, there are well-regarded academic studies that show that groups
that contain women are smarter than all-male groups, regardless of the relative
intelligence of the group members. Surprising, perhaps, but true. Here is a
pointer to a discussion of one of them:
http://www.antonioyon.com/group-intelligence-and-the-female-factor
There are also numerous studies, of various types, that show that more diverse
groups make better decisions and/or perform better than less diverse groups.
Here is a description of one such study:
http://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/better_decisions_through_diversity
So, as illogical as these statements may seem on the surface, they are
well-established facts. Both of the articles I've sited give some insight into
why this is true.
Margaret