What Gender Diversity In The Workplace Means For Satisfaction And Productivitiy

The happiness-productivity balance is a perpetual challenge of the modern American workplace. Managers want to foster their employees' well-being while boosting the bottom line. You wouldn't think that these goals would be in opposition, but a study recently published in the Journal of Economics and Management Strategy illuminates something that can have a significant — and opposite — effect on both: gender.

The study, "Diversity, Social Goods Provision, and Performance in the Firm," finds that employees express greater levels of satisfaction and well-being in same-gender workplaces, but they're more productive in mixed-gender environments.

Sara Ellison, senior lecturer in the department of economics at MIT, and co-author of "Diversity, Social Goods Provision, and Performance in the Firm."

Anne Litwin, Boston-based organizational development consultant and author of "New Rules for Women: Revolutionizing the Way Women Work Together."

WBUR: Study: People Like The Idea Of Workplace Diversity More Than Actual Diversity