Predicting Perceptions of Team Process Using Optimal Distinctiveness Theory

There are conflicting findings in team diversity research on whether it is better for an individual on a team to be similar to or different from the rest of the team. This lab study with undergraduates completing a critical thinking and decision-making task uses optimal distinctiveness theory to examine the idea that finding a balance between these two states for team member personality will result in positive perceptions of team process. Our results supported this such that participants had the most positive perceptions of team process when optimally distinct from the rest of the team in terms of personality.

A Diversity Mindset Perspective on Inclusive Leadership

Team diversity research has established that diversity has the potential to stimulate synergetic performance outcomes through information integration processes, but also has the potential to invite interpersonal tensions that disrupt the very information integration process that can give more diverse teams an advantage over more homogeneous teams. A focus on the role of team leadership in stimulating information integration processes and preempting interpersonal tensions is obvious and important, but surprisingly underdeveloped conceptually and empirically. In this article, we integrate insights from two complementary perspectives on leadership and diversity—inclusive leadership and leadership for diversity mindsets—to advance a more integrative perspective on how team leadership can stimulate both inclusion and synergy from diversity.

Making Diversity Research Matter for Social Change: New Conversations Beyond the Firm

This paper argues that, to fulfil the ambition to foster equality and social justice, diversity research should move outside the empirical and ideational boundaries of the firm, which have historically limited our knowledge production on diversity and social change. We first look back at 30 years of diversity research, reflecting on how the main theories, concepts and models of diversity are entangled with four root images of the firm – a neutral container, an economic entity, a cultural entity and a space of inequality – which have fundamentally shaped and limited our way of thinking about forms of action to achieve social change. We then present four illustrations of diversity research that broaden our empirical and ideational horizon: the global garments value chain; the gig economy; a public library; and a dance organization. These examples show new re-conceptualizations of diversity and open up possibilities for new conversations and politics of action to make diversity research matter for social change.

Quantifying geodiversity with alpha, beta and gamma components

<div> <p>A variety of ways can be used to measure geodiversity, but no consensus on quantifying it exists to date. Most quantifications have thus far focused on the abiotic diversity of individual sites, which offers only limited views on variation of abiotic nature. It is, therefore, important to examine the between-site geodiversity, i.e., the dissimilarities of geofeatures (elements of geodiversity) between different sites. For instance, it would be interesting to recognize not only the most geodiverse sites of an area, but also the sites that have the most unique compositions of geofeatures. This extended geodiversity information could be further applied in nature conservation or land-use planning. We propose that geodiversity research would benefit from adopting the alpha, beta and gamma concepts of species diversity research to provide a more holistic framework for geodiversity assessments. In particular, the inclusion of distance metrics for measuring beta biodiversity could open new perspectives in evaluating beta geodiversity. The integration of these diversity concepts into geodiversity research would also allow a better joint understanding of biotic and abiotic diversity.</p> </div>

Board Diversity or Tokenism: A Case for Social Inclusion and an Efficiency Model

This exploratory paper examines the concept of diversity as a dynamic of board effectiveness. The study argues that diversity hardly works without putting in place systems and programmes that promote social inclusion, and, as such, research on board diversity must account for this element in building empirical frameworks and model specifications. The study finds that a great majority of previous studies have ignored this variable of significant importance and, in some instances, conflated it with diversity itself. This represents a material flaw that needs to be addressed. This paper offers guidance on how to measure and account for social inclusion and integration in board diversity research. Finally, a portfolio efficiency frontier model is proposed as a mechanism for differentiating between corporations with efficient board diversity and those that are tokenism based.