Diversity awards
Athena Swan
The Athena Swan Charter recognises commitment to gender equality in the advancement and promotion of staff and students in higher education and research.
The University has been awarded Silver status, recognising the impact of gender equality actions and initiatives. Individual Schools within the University also hold Athena Swan Awards; we have eight Schools that hold a Bronze Award and six Schools have been awarded at Silver level.
In accordance with the expansion of the Athena Swan Charter to include Schools in the arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law, Schools in the Faculty of Humanities are also working towards Bronze Award status.
We’re fully committed to progressing a long-term cultural change to benefit all staff.
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Stonewall
We participate in Britain’s good practice employers’ forum on sexual orientation run by Stonewall, a charity that works for equality for LGBTQ+ people everywhere.
In 2023, we were ranked 30th in their Top 100 Employers for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace.
Stonewall's Diversity Champion programme provided us with access to a wide range of support and resources to ensure we are an inclusive and supportive place to work, study and visit.
Race Equality Charter
We have successfully been awarded silver status for the Race Equality Charter Award (formally the Equality Challenge Unit), for excellence in advancing racial equality in higher education.
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Disability Confident Leader
We have been awarded Disability Confident Leader status by the Business Disability Forum of which we are a member.
The Disability Confident scheme, accredited by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), helps employers recruit, retain and train great people. Disability Confident organisations play a leading role in changing attitudes about, and increasing understanding of, disability. There are three levels of the scheme with Leader being the highest.
Our Disability Confident Leader submission focused on the people we employ including staff, PGRs, apprentices, and those undertaking work experience and work placements. It also highlighted how we report our data and includes an ongoing commitment to annually report our Disability Pay Gap.
Learn more about our commitment to the recruitment, retention and career development of disabled people.
Business Disability Forum
We are a member of the Business Disability Forum, a not-for-profit membership organisation that provides pragmatic support to help businesses become fully accessible to disabled customers and employees.
We are committed to equal opportunities across the University and it's important to us that we create an inclusive working environment that welcomes disabled applicants.
Time to Change
Time to Change is England's biggest programme to challenge mental health stigma and discrimination.
We signed the Time to Change pledge in June 2013, signalling our commitment to helping raise awareness and to tackle the stigma around mental health for our staff and students.
As part of the pledge, we have put together a 'Time to Change' action plan (PDF document, 155KB) that includes a campaign to raise awareness for staff and students, and training for line managers and frontline staff.
Universities Human Resources
The Universities Human Resources (UHR) awards recognise outstanding and innovative projects, teams, and individuals that have led transformational change in their organisations.
In 2017, we won the Equality and Diversity category prize for our 'We Get It' campaign, which promotes zero tolerance of bullying and harassment.
The Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers
In 2017, the University was named as one of the year’s Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers, a definitive list of UK-based organisations that promote inclusion across all strands of diversity, including age, disability, gender, LGBT, race, faith and religion throughout each level of employment.
The list recognises organisations that are committed to attracting and retaining a truly diverse workforce and achieving equality, diversity and inclusion throughout their staff.