Diversity and Inclusion

High Performing Teams through Diversity and Inclusivity

Diverse teams demonstrate better problem-solving

Benefits

Today’s students need opportunities to develop important skills for effectively navigating our global society. These skills include understanding and appreciating different perspectives and worldviews, as well as interacting positively with people with different backgrounds, values, ethnicities, cultures, and genders (OECD, 2018). Intentionally configuring student teams for diversity creates these opportunities and has a host of other benefits as well. 

Research studies have shown diverse teams to demonstrate better problem-solving as well as more creativity, innovation, risk-taking, and overall project success (Kuh, 2008; Rock & Grant, 2016). These advantages are brought to bear precisely because of diversity in perspectives (Phillips, Liljenquist, &  Neale,  2010;  Rock  &  Grant,  2016).  

Risks

Having diverse teams does not guarantee success. In fact, without adequate knowledge and resources, female students and students of color may be more likely than other students to experience issues such as intellectual marginalization or task assignment bias. 

Intellectual marginalization is when others’ ideas are ignored or not taken seriously due to biases and stereotypes related to social identities (Meadows  et  al.,  2015).  Research  has  told  us that women and students of color experience intellectual marginalization on project teams more frequently than their White male counterparts (Wolfe et al., 2016).

Task assignment bias is when tasks are assigned (by oneself or other team members) based on unconscious bias of who is regarded as more or less capable of–or suited for–particular tasks. For example, a 2015 study found that female undergraduate students were more frequently assigned tasks that are stereotyped as “women’s work,”  (such as taking notes) while male students took on more technical roles (Wolfe, Powell, Schlisserman & Kirshon, 2015). 

Intellectual marginalization, task assignment bias, and other forms of biased treatment and perceptions on student teams can lead to loss of confidence, lower levels of engagement, fewer opportunities for skill development, and less interest in their program of study. 

Strategies for Inclusivity 

To support equitable and inclusive student teamwork–and thereby maximize the potential benefits of diversity–Bensimon (2007) argues that faculty must actively work to understand the different ways that racism, bias, and other forms of marginalization may play out and negatively impact students. The following are some specific strategies for supporting inclusive practices across student teams.

  • Provide direct instruction in decision-making processes – While most students are familiar with a “majority rules” style of decision-making, this approach can result in some group members’ input being  disregarded, which can lead to disengagement and lack of commitment to the plan. A “consensus-building” approach to decision-making, however, means that team members work together to get agreement and buy-in from everyone on the team. To do this effectively, students may need some resources and instruction on perspective-taking, empathy, and negotiation skills (Dressler, 2006).
  • Provide a Group Charter development opportunity – Group charters give students an opportunity to discuss and explicitly decide on roles, how they will work together, and expectations for communication and performance. Proactively developing a charter gives students a roadmap and can prevent issues from developing during the project. This activity is an important scaffold for the overall project assignment. 
  • Establish the rotating project manager role – The project manager on a student project is responsible for coordinating tasks and providing information that the team needs to make progress toward the next deliverable (Hussein, 2021). Rotating this position of across team members ensures equitable sharing of responsibility. 

Configuring teams for diversity

Intentionally forming student teams, rather than allowing students to choose their teammates, is an effective strategy for ensuring diversity in terms of social identities, prior experience (such as co-op and other activities), and project-specific skills and knowledge. The goal here is to distribute–as evenly as possible– the characteristics you determine to be most important for achieving the desired goals (Sweet & Michaelsen, 2012). At the same time, it is important to avoid making those with marginalized identities the only one on the team with that identity (Macke, Canfield, Tapp & Hunn, 2019). To learn about your students, you may ask them to leverage asset maps, the identity wheel, or your own survey, for example. 

  • Asset Maps – Asset maps are charts that student teams develop that show the tasks of the project mapped to individuals’ assets (knowledge, skills, and experiences) and interests as well as areas for growth. The students can then use this to inform a project plan or team charter that describes everyone’s roles. Both the asset mapping process and the output of the process can improve team dynamics and collaboration (Pfeifer & Stoddard, 2019)  
  • Social Identity Reflection and Discussion  – Through written reflection and discussion prompts, students explore their social identities (such as gender, sexual orientation, and race, for example) and how those identities may impact others’ perceptions. This activity can be supported with resources such as the Social Identity Wheel worksheet developed by the University of Michigan.  
  • Your Own Survey – You may ask students to complete a custom  survey containing questions that you identify as most relevant to the goals of the work and learning.

Summary

There are multiple potential benefits of configuring student teams for diversity. To realize that potential, educators must be aware of the different ways racism, bias, and other forms of marginalization may arise, and actively work to incorporate inclusive practices.

 

References

Dressler, L. (2006). Consensus through conversation. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Hussein, B. (2021). Addressing collaboration challenges in project-based learning: The student’s perspective. Education Sciences, 11(8), 434-454.

Kuh (2018). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them and why they matter. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Universities. 

Meadows, L. A., Sekaquaptewa, D. & Paretti, M. C. (2015). Interactive panel: Improving the experiences of marginalized students on engineering design teams (Paper ID # 11803). Paper presented at the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exhibition, Seattle, WA. 

OECD (2018). Preparing our youth for an inclusive and sustainable world: The OECD PISA global competence framework. Paris: OECD. https://www.oecd.org/education/Global-competency-for-an-inclusive-world.pdf

Pfeifer, Geoffrey and Elisabeth A. Stoddard (2019). “Equitable and Effective Teams: Creating and Managing Team Dynamics for Equitable Learning Outcomes” in Kristin Wobbe and Elisabeth A. Stoddard, eds. Beyond All Expectations: Project-Based Learning in the First Year.

Phillips, K. W., Liljenquist, K. A., &  Neale, M. (2010). Better decisions through diversity, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Kellogg Insight. Retrieved from https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/better_decisions_through_diversity

Rock, D., & Grant, H. (2016) Why diverse teams are smarter. Harvard Business Review, 4. 

Sweet, M., & Michaelsen, L. K. (2012). Critical thinking and engagement: Creating cognitive apprenticeships with team-based learning. In Team-Based Learning in the Social Sciences and Humanities (pp. 5-32). Routledge.

Wolfe, J., Powell, E. A., Schlisserman, S., & Kirshon, A. (2016). Teamwork in Engineering Undergraduate Classes: What Problems Do Students experience? Association for Engineering Education – Engineering Library Division Papers. https://doi.org/10.18260/p.26069