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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]]

From what I've seen, [b]studies related to the benefits of diversity in technology don't really point one way or the other.[/b]  I think there is something to be said when it comes to  human factors design for having diverse viewpoints as different groups use technology differently.[/quote]I've never seen such a study. Can you point to one? It would depend greatly on how the benefits are designed, though.

Also, human factors engineering, especially in software, is no longer really a standalone discipline. It's core to how software is designed and developed...and no SW architect, which is the career pinnacle of someone who stays on the technical non-management track, worth their salt would design without a deep understanding all of the use cases for the SW being developed.[/quote]

Look for forward cites of at least these, there from a number listed by the National Center for Women in Technology, which partners with Google and a number of other software companies.

Baugh, S. & Graen, S. (1997). Effects of team gender and
racial composition on perceptions of team performance in
cross-functional teams. Groups and Organization Management,
22(366), 366–379.

Cady, S. & Valentine, J. (1999). Team innovation and perceptions
of consideration — what difference does diversity make? Small
Group Research, 30(730), 731–745.

Kochan, T., Bezrukova, K., Ely, R., Jackson, S., Joshi, A., Jehn,
K., ...Thomas, D. (2003). The effects of diversity on business
performance: Report of the diversity research network. Human
Resource Management, 42(1), 3-21.

Dwyer, S., Richard, O., & Chadwick, K. (2003). Gender diversity
in management and firm performance: The influence of growth
orientation and organizational culture. Journal of Business
Research, 56, 1013–1017.

What is interesting to note is that there is a trend in many of these studies. In order to achieve benefits, [u]a lot of active management was required to deal with different communication styles and intergroup conflicts[/u]. In other words, [i]when management was hands off, mixed groups did not show increased performance[/i]. One study in particular surprised me. It seemed to find that more diverse teams came up with fewer ideas, than non diverse teams, but there was no difference in terms of the quality of the ideas. Of course many of these studies are contradicted by other studies showing benefits. Hence why I say they're mixed.

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