The effects of gender variety and power disparity on group cognitive complexity in collaborative learning groups

Abstract

This study sets up to test the extent to which gender variety moderates the impact of power disparity on group cognitive complexity (GCC) and satisfaction with the group in a collaborative learning setting. Using insights from gender differences in perceptions, orientations and conflict handling behavior in negotiation, as well as gender differences in exerting social influence in small group settings we hypothesize that gender variety alleviates the negative impact of power disparity on GCC and satisfaction. We test this hypothesis in a sample of 110 student groups and our results show that for high gender variety, power disparity has a small positive effect on GCC, while for low gender variety power disparity has a negative effect on GCC. In a similar vein we show that in gender homogeneous groups, power disparity has a negative association with satisfaction, while for mixed-gender groups the association between the two is not significant. We discuss (1) the implications of these results for the management of diversity in educational and organizational settings and (2) the use of cognitive mapping as a comprehensive evaluation tool for collaborative learning effectiveness.

Keywords:

• collaborative learning
• gender variety
• power differences
• group cognitive complexity
• groups

Acknowledgments

The first author was partially supported in writing this paper by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS – UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0482.

Notes on contributors

Petru L. Curşeu is Associate Professor in the Department of Organization Studies at Tilburg University. He received his PhD from Tilburg University and teaches courses on Organizational Behavior. His research interests include team dynamics (with a special focus on team cognition), social cognition (in particular the study of stereotypes and prejudice in organizational settings), as well as decision-making in organizations. He has published papers on related topics in the Journal of Information Technology, the European Journal of Social Psychology, Group Dynamics, Group Decision and Negotiation, Organization Studies, Studies in Higher Education, British Journal of Social Psychology, Higher Education, Learning and Individual Differences and other journals

Kimzana Sari is a Research Master student with the School of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Tilburg University. Her research interests include collaborative learning, group work and cross-cultural differences.

Notes

Note: GV – gender variety, PD – power disparity and standardized regression coefficients are presented in the table and are significant at ***p < .01; **p < .05 and *p < .10; all variables are grand mean centered.