When and how does educational specialization diversity influence team innovation: Paradoxical leadership as a moderator and team reflexivity as a mediator

Abstract Given the paradoxical nature of educational specialization diversity, we suggest that paradoxical leadership effectively manages this diversity and enhances its positive impact on team innovation. Building on the group as information processor framework, we propose that team reflexivity, a critical information‐processing activity within teams, mediates the interaction between educational specialization diversity and paradoxical leadership in influencing team innovation. To test these hypotheses, we conducted a multi‐wave, multi‐source field study with data from 126 teams. Our findings demonstrate that paradoxical leadership positively moderates the relationship between educational specialization diversity and team innovation, as well as the relationship between educational specialization diversity and team reflexivity. Our results also reveal that team reflexivity mediates the moderated relationship between educational specialization diversity, paradoxical leadership, and team innovation. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.