Diversity, Ability, and Expertise in Epistemic Communities

The Hong and Page ‘diversity trumps ability’ result has been used to argue for the more general claim that a diverse set of agents is epistemically superior to a comparable group of experts. Here we extend Hong and Page’s model to landscapes of different degrees of randomness and demonstrate the sen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophy of science 2019-01, Vol.86 (1), p.98-123
Main Authors: Grim, Patrick, Singer, Daniel J., Bramson, Aaron, Holman, Bennett, McGeehan, Sean, Berger, William J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ability
Cognitive ability
Communities of practice
Epistemology
Experts
Landscape
Learning commons
Randomness
Sensitivity analysis
Workplace diversity
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Summary:The Hong and Page ‘diversity trumps ability’ result has been used to argue for the more general claim that a diverse set of agents is epistemically superior to a comparable group of experts. Here we extend Hong and Page’s model to landscapes of different degrees of randomness and demonstrate the sensitivity of the ‘diversity trumps ability’ result. This analysis offers a more nuanced picture of how diversity, ability, and expertise may relate. Although models of this sort can indeed be suggestive for diversity policies, we advise against interpreting such results overly broadly.
ISSN:0031-8248
1539-767X
DOI:10.1086/701070