Cornell University: ILR’s Scheinman Institute helping to diversify arbitration field

The Scheinman Institute, which trains more students in arbitration and mediation than any school in America, is taking a leadership role in helping diversity a profession that is 94 percent white and 79 percent male.

“The workforce is increasingly people of color, so more cases are about people of color. Arbitrators who are demographically similar to workers have more insight into those conflicts and resolutions,” said Harry Katz, Scheinman director and the ILR School’s Jack Sheinkman Professor of Collective Bargaining. In this video, he discusses how the Scheinman Institute works to improve diversity in the alternative dispute resolution field.

In May, the institute will form the third cohort of its Labor Arbitration Development Program. The 15-month program helps people prepare for arbitration careers with the help of established arbitrators who provide coaching and invite students to shadow them at arbitrations.

“Getting your first couple of cases is the toughest part” of launching an arbitrator career, Katz said. “We’re going to work hard to get people placed in early experiences that will help them develop their careers.”