Greater than the sum of its parts: The role of minority and majority
  status in collaborative problem-solving communication
Jacqueline G. Cavazos Nia Nixon
Collaborative problem-solving (CPS) is a vital skill used both in the
workplace and in educational environments. CPS is useful in tackling
increasingly complex global, economic, and political issues and is considered a
central 21st century skill. The increasingly connected global community
presents a fruitful opportunity for creative and collaborative problem-solving
interactions and solutions that involve diverse perspectives. Unfortunately,
women and underrepresented minorities (URMs) often face obstacles during
collaborative interactions that hinder their key participation in these
problem-solving conversations. Here, we explored the communication patterns of
minority and non-minority individuals working together in a CPS task. Group
Communication Analysis (GCA), a temporally-sensitive computational linguistic
tool, was used to examine how URM status impacts individuals' sociocognitive
linguistic patterns. Results show differences across racial/ethnic groups in
key sociocognitive features that indicate fruitful collaborative interactions.
We also investigated how the groups' racial/ethnic composition impacts both
individual and group communication patterns. In general, individuals in more
demographically diverse groups displayed more productive communication
behaviors than individuals who were in majority-dominated groups. We discuss
the implications of individual and group diversity on communication patterns
that emerge during CPS and how these patterns can impact collaborative
outcomes.