5 Categories of diversity
There are many different ways to categorise diversity, but one classification, which describes three different categories of ‘workgroup’ diversity, is explored by Jehn et al. (1999).
They are:
- Social category diversity – refers to explicit differences among group members, such as race, sex or age. This is often what people are referring to when talking about diversity but is likely to have less direct impact on the productivity of a workgroup than informational or value diversity.
- Informational diversity – refers to differences in educational background, training and work experience. These differences increase the likelihood that diverse perspectives and opinions exist in a team.
- Value diversity – refers to differences in what team members think the group’s real task, goal or mission should be. Group members who have very different values may experience conflict.
While previous studies have ‘lumped’ these three types of diversity together, Jehn et al. aimed to explore how each type of diversity might impact differently on workgroup outcomes. They found that ‘for a team to be effective, members should have high information diversity and low value diversity’, explaining that ‘it is the diversity associated with values, and not social category, that causes the biggest problems in and has the greatest potential for enhancing both workgroup performance and morale’ (Jehn et al., 1999).
The authors conclude that:
- group performance may be enhanced by informational diversity
- the most positive effects of social category diversity are likely to be on worker morale, i.e. satisfaction, intent to remain, commitment and perceived performance
- groups that have greater value diversity may be less effective or efficient and experience diminished worker morale.
A subtle pitfall is that differences in, for example, age or sex will not necessarily lead to difference in values or experience. You will look at this more in Week 7 when you explore stereotypes and the assumptions that can be made when confronted by socially diverse groups.
Now read the following case study before completing Activity 4.
Case study 1: Joan
Joan is 54 and works for the county council in the social care team at a residential home for the elderly. She has been in this job for nearly 20 years and loves it. Her team have been working together now for so long that it feels like a family to her. While the work can be hard, she values the friendly team of like-minded women.
Joan has been asked to be part of a working group to look at referral processes within social care. Today is their first meeting at County Hall and Joan is feeling really nervous about how she will fit in and what she might be asked to do. She knows that she is going to be part of a team of five and that they will be working together once a week over the next couple of months.
The other members of the team are:
Mike, a recent graduate with a degree in computing
Martha, a professional woman of a similar age to Joan but wearing a suit and carrying a leather briefcase with a laptop
Chandni, a middle-aged woman wearing a hijab
Jo, a young woman dressed all in black with heavy make-up and lots of facial piercings.
Activity 4 Value diversity – the challenges
Certain differences between people are immediately obvious, for example, age or colour of skin. By now you may have started to realise that it is not always these differences which cause the most conflict. The greatest conflict is likely to occur where there is a greater range of value diversity in the team.
Value diversity rather than social category or informational diversity can lead to decreased satisfaction, impacting negatively on team members’ loyalty to the group and commitment to realising the goal. When there are different opinions within the team as to what the task actually is, then this can lead to serious personal friction.
For Joan, working in the team described above is stepping out of her comfort zone. What kind of concerns might she be having about how they are going to be able to work together?
What examples of social category, informational and value diversity might there be within this group?
Comment
Some of the examples of each diversity type that could be evident in this group are:
Informational diversity
- Level of IT skills
- Theoretical knowledge versus knowledge gained from practical experience
- Educational background
Social category diversity
- Age – young versus middle-aged
- Sex – male/female
Value diversity
- Cultural or religious values
- Values aligned with an alternative lifestyle versus conventional
- Personal values of care and connection versus profit and efficiency
What you’ve learned in this section can help you to understand some of the causes of conflict in a team, but will also be useful when you’re involved in putting a team together. Making sure that the team understands the shared goals and can find ways to align those goals with their own values should create a more productive environment.
Workloop (2025) suggests a number of activities that could help colleagues to explore their similarities and differences, such as:
- Pairing team members from different backgrounds and asking them to write about the challenges they believe the other person might face
- Sharing and discussing these assumptions and allowing time for responses and personal insights
- Reflecting as a team on surprising takeaways and how they can improve collaboration.
Next you will look at some of the wider initiatives organisations might use to increase diversity in their workplaces.