The Impact of Diversity on Air Force Mission Performance: Analysis of Deployed Service-Members' Perceptions of the Diversity/Capability Relationship

This CRM summarizes 37 Air Force servicemembers’ perceptions of the role of group diversity in determining group performance in the combat environment. The summary is based analyses of interview transcripts that were coded to separately analyze respondents' perceptions about the impact of diversity and the skills, knowledge, and experience needed to manage it. According to our analysis, the two main ways diversity was perceived to affect mission capability were in terms of group dynamics and mission accomplishment. Discussions about group dynamics related to communication, group cohesion, and trust. Discussions about mission accomplishment related to having the right people or skills to perform the tasks at hand and/or having a wide enough range of perspectives to generate creative, appropriate solutions to problems. Respondents’ perceptions about diversity management indicated that the required skills can and should be purposefully developed with training and through career experience. In general, the training should provide tools to both leverage diversity for benefits and manage it to avoid costs. Some training should provide information about relevant other groups and emphasize respect for differences. Most training, however, should focus on concrete aspects of process management.