Stonewall
Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT+) rights charity in Europe.
Stonewall Diversity Champion programme
The university is a proud Stonewall Diversity Champion. The programme supports and promotes fair practice in relation to the employment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff, and our role as a Stonewall Diversity Champion is integral to our commitment to equality for LGBTQ+ staff and students.
Like Stonewall, we know that people perform better when they can be themselves. By being a Stonewall Diversity Champion, we are taking action as part of Britain’s leading employers' programme for LGBTQ+ people, to ensure that all lesbian, gay, bi and trans staff are accepted without exception in the workplace.
Workplace Equality Index
The Workplace Equality Index is the leading best-practice employers' forum for sexual orientation and gender identity equality, diversity and inclusion, and a benchmarking tool used by employers to help ensure all LGBTQ+ employees can be themselves in the workplace. The Workplace Equality Index receives applications from upwards of 450 private, public and charitable organisations annually and in 2019 we joined the list in the top 100, placing at number 72. To participate, employers demonstrate their work in ten areas of employment policy and practice, from training to community engagement. At the same time, staff from across the organisation complete an anonymous survey about their experiences at work.
Our progress
The university’s LGBTQ+ Equality Champion is Julie Fryatt, Director of People, who represents concerns relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality at the University Executive Board.
Since submitting to the 2019 Workplace Equality Index we have been progressing our action plan through the Stonewall Steering Group, which has representation from staff across key departments of the university and the LGBTQ+ Staff Network. The WEI was closed to submissions in 2020 due to COVID-19, however the university plans to resubmit to the index in 2022. In the meantime we continue to work with our colleagues to develop and implement our action plan. We have an active and extensive allies programme and LGBTQ+ inclusivity is both one of our values and part of our academic practice thorough our Centre for Transforming Sexuality and Gender. Our Vice-Chancellor Debra Humphris was the first openly gay Vice-Chancellor and an advocate for our work in this area.
Our ambition
Ensuring equality for our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff is a key priority for the university, and integral to the University Strategy 2019–2025: Practical Wisdom. Our commitment is high profile and we actively support a number of campaigns across the city as part of this work. As part of our commitment to achieving LGBTQ+ equality, the university aimed to rank within the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index Top 100 by 2020–21 and exceeded this goal by being placed 72nd in the Workplace Equality Index 2019.
The Stonewall Steering Group will continue to oversee our LGBTQ+ equality work, including advancing our position in the Workplace Equality Index. Our institutional action plan will be updated to reflect feedback from Stonewall on areas where progress is needed to achieve best practice.
As well as achieving Top 100 status, the university remains committed to on-going equality and support for our LGBTQ+ staff and students and will continue to work on existing action plans to and enhance the experience for all those who identify as LGBTQ+ at the university.
As we work towards this goal, actions plans for our Stonewall WEI and LGBTQ+ equality work will be published here as they become available.