Gender Effects in Discharge Arbitration

This study investigates the effect of the gender of grievants and the gender of arbitrators on the decisions in 1,812 discharge cases in the United States from 1976 through 1986. The results indicate that, other things equal, in cases decided by male arbitrators women were 86 percent more likely to have their grievances sustained than were men. Women were also 32 percent more likely than men to receive a full reinstatement rather than a partial reinstatement from male arbitrators. There is little evidence of differential treatment of male and female grievants by female arbitrators, and no evidence that the preferential treatment of women by male arbitrators has declined over time.