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Which Gender Excels at Teamwork? Both...With a Catch

Chad Brooks
Chad Brooks

Who is better at which aspects of team projects?

Creating work teams comprised of both genders is the most effective way to get things done, new research suggests.

A study revealed that the gender composition of work teams makes a difference in team effectiveness. Gender-balanced teams outperform both predominantly male and predominantly female teams, the research showed.

In the study, more than 300 management students were randomly assigned to teams. Some were predominantly female or male and some were gender-balanced, having about the same number of each sex. Men in teams with a balanced female presence had more positive experiences than they did in teams with a majority of men, the researchers found.

"We examined the impact of team gender on several variables important to team success, including trust, cohesion, inclusion and task/relationship conflict," said Kaitlin Thomas, a doctoral candidate in industrial-organizational psychology at George Washington, where the study originated.

One explanation, Thomas said, is that women tend to be more relationship-oriented than men and are more likely to stress collaboration and inclusion of all team members. She said the findings suggest that gender diversity is important and that teams with a higher representation of women on top management teams can have a positive impact on organizational success.

The study, co-authored by George Washington professor Lynn Offermann, is scheduled to be presented at the 29th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology in Honolulu this May.

Image Credit: Prostock-Studio / Getty Images
Chad Brooks
Chad Brooks
Business News Daily Staff
Chad Brooks is a writer and editor with more than 20 years of media of experience. He has been with Business News Daily and business.com for the past decade, having written and edited content focused specifically on small businesses and entrepreneurship. Chad spearheads coverage of small business communication services, including business phone systems, video conferencing services and conference call solutions. His work has appeared on The Huffington Post, CNBC.com, FoxBusiness.com, Live Science, IT Tech News Daily, Tech News Daily, Security News Daily and Laptop Mag. Chad's first book, How to Start a Home-Based App Development Business, was published in 2014.