EXPLORING NUMERICAL PROPORTIONS IN A UNIQUE CONTEXT - THE GROUP SUPPORT SYSTEMS MEETING ENVIRONMENT

This paper reports the results of a study examining issues of group ge nder composition in a meeting setting employing group support systems (GSS). Research examining the effects of numerical proportions on grou p behavior has traditionally been conducted in settings where use of t echnology by groups is minimal. This research, however, examines the i mpact of varying group gender composition on brainstorming, social int eraction patterns, and attitudes when technology is employed to facili tate and structure group process. In this setting we find no gender-re lated differences in computer-based brainstorming. In the accompanying oral discussions, however, males display a higher proportion of task- related answers than females and uniform groups express more maintenan ce behavior than groups consisting of mixed genders. Our findings also show that uniform gender groups perceive greater participation in the decision process than skewed groups. Despite these gender-related dif ferences, we found relatively little support for Kanter's Numerical Pr oportions Model in a GSS setting given the range of measures explored in this study.