Inclusion unlocks the creative potential of gender diversity in teams

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that gender diversity enhances team creativity only when accompanied by effective inclusion, emphasizing the importance of integrating women into team networks for innovation in collaborative projects.

Contribution

It introduces four measures of inclusion and shows that inclusion is essential for gender diversity to positively impact creativity in team settings.

Findings

Gender diversity without inclusion does not boost creativity.

Maximal inclusion amplifies the positive effect of diversity on creativity.

Including at least 23% female developers and integrating them into team networks enhances creative outcomes.

Abstract

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 that 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 percent or more female developers (as opposed to the 15 percent 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.