Men working in male-dominated teams produce fewer creative ideas and disengage from brainstorming sessions faster than those in gender-diverse groups, according to a study by researchers at HEC Montréal and the University Paris Dauphine. The findings suggest that professional creativity is hindered by homogeneity in male-only environments.
Experimental Evidence from 88 Managers
Researchers observed 88 experienced managers participating in 22 separate four-person brainstorming sessions to test how team composition affects output. Half of the groups were composed primarily of men, while the other half maintained a gender-balanced structure. By filming these interactions, the team tracked how participants contributed, responded to peers, and maintained their focus throughout the creative process.
Marine Agogué, a professor at HEC Montréal, noted that the behavioral differences were stark. Men in male-only groups contributed fewer ideas and stopped working on the tasks earlier than their counterparts in diverse teams. They also demonstrated a higher level of satisfaction with their own initial ideas, which frequently led to an early cessation of collaborative exploration.
The Impact of Gender Stereotypes on Collaboration
The study suggests that gender stereotypes heavily influence how men behave during group work. While societal expectations often frame men as naturally competitive and women as more collaborative, this dynamic can backfire in professional settings. When men are surrounded only by other men, they tend to adopt a competitive stance that actively undermines the exchange of ideas.
Marine Agogué noted that when men are surrounded by women, they contribute more, bounce more on each other’s ideas, are less satisfied with what they have done, and consequently continue to work, dig, and explore.
Béatrice Parguel, a researcher from the University Paris-Dauphine-PSL, emphasized that the study was not intended to promote an ideological agenda but rather to measure observable phenomena. The researchers aimed to identify how the presence of diversity alters group dynamics and performance. By documenting these interactions, the team highlighted that the lack of diversity acts as a blind spot in previous literature, which often focused only on the impact of homogeneity on women or minority groups.
Broader Benefits for Workplace Dynamics
The research indicates that the advantages of gender diversity extend beyond the performance of women. Parguel noted that men appear to exhibit more empathetic and healthy relational behaviors when working in mixed-gender teams. This suggests that the environment created by diversity may improve the overall quality of professional interactions for all participants, not just those in the minority.
- Increased engagement: Men in diverse teams remain focused on tasks for longer durations.
- Better feedback loops: Participants in mixed groups are more likely to build upon the ideas of their colleagues.
- Reduced premature satisfaction: Diversity discourages the tendency to stop exploring once a single idea is proposed.
Practical Applications for Male-Dominated Departments
While companies cannot always reconfigure their entire workforce to achieve immediate parity, the study offers actionable insights for teams currently operating in male-dominated industries. Parguel suggested that awareness of these group dynamics is the first step toward improvement. By recognizing the tendency for competitive behavior to stifle creativity, managers can implement specific techniques to encourage active listening and critical feedback.
Agogué pointed out that organizations can adopt structured brainstorming methods to compensate for natural biases when gender balance is not immediately achievable.
