Does demographic diversity matter? Narrative evidence from Malaysian quality circles.

Abstract

Demographic diversity has received considerable scholarly attention, yet its influence on team dynamics remains inconclusive. This study aims to explore how demographic diversity, particularly age and gender, influences team dynamics by providing narrative evidence from Quality Circles (QCs) in Malaysian organizations. An exploratory qualitative approach was employed, involving semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with 21 members from eight QCs across three organizations representing the oil and gas, automobile manufacturing, and public education sectors. Data were examined using qualitative content analysis to identify emerging themes concerning the perceived influence of demographic diversity on team interactions and participation safety climate. The findings revealed contrasting perspectives. Regarding age diversity, respondents from five teams perceived age composition as influential, suggesting that age similarity facilitates interpersonal comfort and open communication, while age differences encourage innovative ideas through the combination of younger members' fresh perspectives and senior members' experience. Conversely, respondents from three teams perceived age differences as irrelevant to team dynamics. Regarding gender diversity, respondents from six teams indicated that gender similarity promotes comfortable discussions and interpersonal interactions, whereas respondents from two teams perceived gender composition as having no meaningful influence on team collaboration. Overall, the findings suggest that demographic diversity does not necessarily enhance or hinder team dynamics, as its perceived influence varies across teams.