Inclusion unlocks the creative potential of gender diversity in teams [post]

Balazs Vedres, Orsolya Vasarhelyi
2022 unpublished
Diversity in teams can boost creativity, and gender diversity was shown to be a contributor to collective creativity. We show that gender diversity requires inclusion to lead to benefits in creativity by analyzing teams in 4011 video game projects. Recording data on the weighted network from past collaborations, we developed four measures of inclusion, depending on a lack of segregation, strong ties across genders, and the incorporation of women into the core of the team's network. We found
more » ... gender diversity without inclusion does not contribute to creativity, while with maximal inclusion one standard deviation change in diversity results in .04 to .09 standard deviation change in creativity, depending on the measure of inclusion. To reap creative benefits of diversity, developer firms need to include 23% or more female developers (as opposed to the 15% mean female proportion) and include them in the team along all dimensions. Inclusion at low diversity has a negative effect. By analyzing the sequences of diversity and inclusion across games within firms, we found that adding diversity first, and developing inclusion later can lead to higher diversity and inclusion, compared to adding female developers with already existing cross-gender ties to the team.
doi:10.31235/osf.io/a3wf9 fatcat:y2jvdlncbnct3pb2eorkbsb7rq