This past Thursday, Dr. Scott Page paid a visit to the Stevens Institute of Technology campus to give a lecture on why diversity matters in collective decision making. Students, professors, and community members alike gathered in DeBaun Auditorium and were welcomed by Provost George P. Korfiatis. His introduction touched on the expansion of the Stevens community and how increasing the diversity of its student body is a strategic move. Provost Korfiatis also mentioned the $555,000 5-year grant from the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE PAID program, which aims at retaining and advancing female academic STEM careers.
After accepting the Provost’s kind welcome, Dr. Page began his lecture by challenging the idea of ability. He suggested ability should not only encompass test scores, IQs, and productivity as it did in the early part of the 20th century, but as a “collection of tools.” Essentially, the more diversity a working group has, the more tools are available, thus leading to more productive group thinking.
At one point in the lecture, Dr. Page explained a mathematical equation intended to calculate crowd error. As a complex equation filled with exponents, sigmas, and subscripts flashed onto the projection screen, Dr. Page easily explained his equation with everyday scenarios. He suggested that while complex systems and mathematics can prove how diversity improves collective decision making, students can also take a pragmatic approach. His advice to the predominantly undergraduate student audience: “If you’re going to do research and want to do it with someone who looks and does things just like you, you’re aiming for being average.”
Dr. Page also focused on gender bias, which has been a contested issue especially in corporations with multiple levels of hierarchy. He suggested that “we get rid of nefarious biases because they accumulate higher up the chains with promotions.” For example, if an individual wanted to be the head of the Boeing company, he or she would have to be promoted a total of 12 times. However, if there is a ten percent gap between male and female promotions, the chance of a female to attain such a position is severely slim. Thus, diversity includes a whole slew of factors, including gender, ethnic background, and race.
Stevens Institute of Technology, commonly known as the Innovation University, in a way is applying Dr. Page’s research into its core values. Just this year, the freshman class is nearly 30% female and almost 40% of incoming students come from outside New Jersey. The more diverse campus becomes, the more “collections of tools” will be available. As Dr. Page stated, “If you seek diversity, you enlarge the pool.”
In addition to lecturing on why diversity improves decision making, Dr. Scott Page is the Director of the Center for the Study of Complex Systems at the University of Michigan–Ann Harbor where he also works as the Leonid Hurwicz Collegiate Professor of Complex systems, political science and economics. He recently published a book titled The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools and Societies which addresses how groups think and why collective wisdom works and Diversity and Complexity, an introduction to the role of diversity in complex adaptive systems. In 2013, he was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in Social Sciences/Political Science for his research achievements. He also consults with corporations and nonprofit organizations on organization and market performance.
