The effect of gender on arbitration decisions

The effect of grievant’s and arbitrator’s gender on arbitration decisions is investigated using 169 arbitration cases fromLabor Arbitration Awards. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) arbitrators treat female grievants less severely than male grievants; (2) female arbitrators render less severe judgments than their male counterparts; and (3) arbitrator’s gender and grievant’s gender interact so that female arbitrators will treat female grievants more favorably than male arbitrators and male arbitrators will treat male grievants more favorably than female arbitrators. The empirical findings supported none of these hypotheses and the authors conclude that the arbitration process is free of gender bias.