Interdisciplinary Research Teams as Status Systems

Abstract

Research teams may be studied as social systems organized along dimensions of status, such as rights to evaluate others and to allocate rewards. “Status consistency” is the degree to which salient statuses an individual possesses are at the same level; “status ambiguity” occurs when ranks are unknown or unclear. Relevant dimensions of status are those both within a team and in the larger society, such as gender and ethnicity. Both status inconsistency and status ambiguity interfere with communication, and that reduces team efficiency.