Abstract

The workforce in industrial research and development is changing, as companies are hiring increasing proportions of women, foreign-born, and American-born minorities. Based on a survey of 3 163 scientists and engineers from 24 companies, problems and opportunities created by this changing situation were identified. A model of diversity and performance in R&D was used to guide the study. It relates organizational criteria (e.g., managers' ratings of technical staff performance) and personal criteria (e.g., job satisfaction) to personal characteristics (e.g., gender) and leverage points for management action (e.g., the dual ladder). Conclusions were drawn based on (1) the 132 figures in this report, which refer to diversity groups large enough to allow meaningful comparisons, (2) several articles published about specific study results, and (3) numerous talks given during the course of the study. Overall, the findings indicate that diversity matters, but other things matter more. In predicting performance and satisfaction, for example, age and possession of the Ph.D. are considerably more important than gender, birthplace, or racial or ethnic background. Moreover, there are important differences between individuals within diversity groups, and every one of the diversity groups in this report included individuals whose performance ratings were in the top ten per cent of everyone in the study.


Click on the link below for the final report in pdf.
ditomaso_farris_cordero_1094.pdf