The steel beam, as orginally described, extended above the line of the plywood floor. In order for the steel beam flange not to protrude outside the width of the wall, the flange width would have to be limited to the width of the studs, as 5.5" for a 6" wood stud wall.
If the beam is kept within the depth of the floor joists, then the flange width has no visual impact on the wood stud wall above, and the flange can be wider, affording a greater I value.
My only concern here would be providing a nailing surface for the edge of the plywood at the steel beam. Normally, this is handled by using a 2X or 3X top plate attached to the top of the steel beam with Nelson sill plate anchors. Hoewever, in this case, to increase the depth of the beam the and gain greater I value, I chose to use a wood infill between the top and bottom flanges and bolted to the web, with 2X blocking nailed to the filler to which the plywood can be nailed.
Hope this is a little clearer.
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering