A metatheoretical framework of diversity in teams

In the last 22 years, research on diversity in teams has been propelled by information processing and social categorization theories, and more recently, by theories of disparity/(in)justice and access to external networks. These theories stress different diversity processes, treating team diversity respectively as variety of information, as separation, as disparity, and as variety of access. We appraise this literature by identifying major problems in the way these four foundational theories are used either alone or in combination, arguing that the related theoretical models are inherently incomplete and static. In an attempt to resolve these problems, we introduce a metatheoretical framework that relates these four foundational theories according to the metadimensions of group boundary and diversity mindset. We also propose a metatheoretical model that identifies interactions among the four diversity processes and specifies diversity response patterns to team success or failure over time. Our metatheoretical approach resolves significant omissions in the literature and penetrates into the dynamic nature of team diversity in more complex, temporally sensitive and synthetic ways

Workplace bullying and gender: an overview of empirical findings

The aim of this chapter is to summarize existing research on workplace bullying and gender and examine the many ways in which gender may impact the bullying process. First, it seeks to provide an overview of empirical findings on gender differences in bullying and, second, theoretical explanations for the differences. In terms of prevalence rates, this summary suggests somewhat higher rates for women, although there are regional differences. The chapter reports complex relationships between gender on the one hand and forms of bullying, perpetrations of bullying, consequences of and responses to bullying and interventions in bullying on the other hand. Gender non-conforming behaviour of both men and women as well as being in the minority are recognized as specific risk factors. Yet gender as a social category does not stand in isolation but may intersect and interact with other social categories, creating unique and different experiences for different employee groups. The chapter recognizes gender as a fundamental ordering principle in society and organizations, although many of the empirical studies surveyed still take a gender-as-variable approach instead of explicitly analysing the gendered contexts in which these encounters take place. The overview shows that relationships between gender and bullying are complex and largely shaped by social power afforded to different groups of men and women and by gendered expectations of appropriate behaviour

Construct validity in workplace bullying and harassment research

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