WHICH GENDER ARE THE BEST MEDIATORS?

Occassionally I’m asked about the effect of the gender of the mediator who is conducting a session. As you might imagine, this is not a simple question. Here are some factors to consider:

First, what happens in a mediation is not solely a consequence of the mediator and their behavior. One important factor is the expectations, perceptions and biases of the participants. A participant may, for example, behave differently with a female mediator than with a male one.

Second, mediation is about behaviors. It is not reasonable to assume that all women mediators behave differently than all male mediators all the time. So, at best, the question is whether there are behaviors more commonly associated with women mediators than with males?

Another observation that is relevant is participation. Over decades of teaching volunteers to be mediators in community mediation and Small Claims Court settings, the vast majority of volunteers have been women. On the other hand, on the international peace making processes, women make up only 2% of mediators in major peace processes. The 98% of males are generally high level personalities who work independently, rather than part of a team. Women are, to be sure, overwhelming involved in informal peacemaking. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 calls for an increase in women’s participation in peace processes at all levels.

What are the behaviors more commonly associated with women mediators in addition to being more comfortable working as part of a team rather than independently? A class study by David Maxwell analyzed 724 mediations by 24 female and 24 male mediators. His conclusions was that both genders were equally effective at reaching an initial settlement, but that female mediations were significantly more effective in negotiating binding settlements.

What might explain Maxwell’s findings? I can only suggest my personal observation of working with volunteer mediators. Most males focus more on reaching a solution to the issue disputing parties present. More of the female mediators, while helping parties reach a solution to the issue, also make it possible for the parties to discuss their relationship to the matter at hand. When any such relationship issues are addressed it is more likely that the resolution be a lasting one.

Again, to be clear, I am describing a set of behaviors which either women or men may employ. It just might be that women are more comfortable helping disputing parties address relationship issues, but that doesn’t mean that some male mediators aren’t equally competent at doing that as well.