The College Fix has an interesting article about a debunking by two mathematicians of a “widely touted study [by Scott Page] claiming diversity is a better attribute than ability in spurring productivity and problem solving ….” My own math skills are so poor that I wouldn’t dream of saying anything more on that angle of the matter, but I will quote this testimony I gave to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission years ago:
Likewise, the title of Scott Page’s new book The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies might lead one to believe that it proves racial and ethnic diversity is good for business, but in fact its claims are more limited than that. Indeed, much of what Professor Page has to say is similar to part III of my April testimony–specifically, that for many jobs diversity of any sort is irrelevant; that in any event it is what he calls “cognitive” diversity that ultimately matters, not skin-color diversity per se; and that employers should “avoid lumping by [racial] identity” and should “avoid stereotypes” (and, of course, Professor Page does not address the legal prohibition on racial discrimination, even when it is said to be justified by believed “cognitive” differences).