Every mediator brings their history, lived realities and values into the room. Bias and prejudice are not character flaws to be confessed,  they are ordinary features of how people read one another, and they work quietly in exactly the conditions mediation creates: ambiguity, time pressure, and a process that leaves no record.

This three-hour masterclass looks squarely at what bias and prejudice are, how they form, and how they surface in a mediator's judgement about who is credible, who is reasonable, and who needs support. It sets out what the research establishes and what it does not and is candid about the difference.

The session is built around conversation. There is time to reflect on your own practice, structured group work, and space to share what you have seen and hear how colleagues handle it. You leave with a practical protocol, a way of observing your own process, and a clearer account of the evidence than most of what circulates on this subject.

This MPD will be presented by Ebrahim Patelia.