Judges as susceptible to gender bias as laypeople — and sometimes more so

A new study of trial court judges suggests these arbiters of the law sometimes let their personal ideas about gender roles influence their decision-making. The findings, which are part of a broader study of judicial behavior, revealed that the judges were just as likely as laypeople to discriminate – in ways that harmed both men and women – in decisions involving child custody or workplace discrimination cases related to family caregiving duties.