Recognised as an inclusive place to work

The University of Sheffield has been recognised as a fully inclusive community to work after rising 25 places in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index 2013.

Staff and students endorsed the University as a supportive working environment in the nationally recognised league table which was created by the charity Stonewall.

The Workplace Equality Index is a means to benchmark organisations according to their support provisions for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) staff.

The University was ranked 106 out of almost 400 organisations across the UK, after rising 25 places since its last submission. The institution aims to support people, regardless of sexual orientation or any other equality characteristic, to work together to create and be part of a fully inclusive university community.

Andrew Dodman, Director of Human Resources at the University of Sheffield, said: "This result is a cause for celebration. Our goal is to create a truly remarkable and inclusive place to work, and I am delighted that our approach of working in partnership with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) staff and students is paying off.

"The index has also highlighted some areas where we can improve and we will continue to build on this hard work in the future."

The University's 2013 submission was the result of an innovative collaboration of staff across the university including LGBT staff and student networks. This enabled the institution to gain a wider perspective of how the University is supportive of LGBT staff and students, and identify areas to improve.

Key highlights recognised in the submission included the University's sponsorship of Sheffield Pride for the third consecutive year, representation of LGBT staff and students in the first ever Sheffield Pride parade, and the Allowed Out event.

Allowed Out was a joint enterprise between the University's Department of History and Sheffield's gay choir Out Aloud, showcasing LGBT voices from the community in a multimedia performance as part of the University's hugely successful Festival of the Mind.

Next month the University will launch 'Storying LGBT@TUOS'. This film is a joint venture, featuring testimonials from LGBT staff and students, which will be shown as part of a wider networking event to celebrate LGBT History Month.

Tom Reaney, LGBT Staff Network Chair at the University of Sheffield, said: “As a member of staff, I am proud to see the University striding forward and accepting this challenge of bettering ourselves as a place for LGBT people to work and study. The collaborative efforts behind the University’s submission only highlight how much can be achieved when people can be themselves.”

Stonewall was founded in 1989 by a small group of women and men who had been active in the struggle against Section 28 of the Local Government Act.

Section 28 was an offensive piece of legislation designed to prevent the so-called 'promotion' of homosexuality in schools; as well as stigmatising gay people it also galvanised the gay community.

Additional Information Stonewall Workplace Equality Index

The Workplace Equality Index is Britain's leading tool for employers to measure their efforts to tackle discrimination and create inclusive workplaces for lesbian, gay and bisexual employees. Since 2005 more than 750 major employers have taken part in the Index, using Stonewall's criteria as a model for good practice.

For more information about Stonewall and the Workplace Equality Index visit http://www.stonewall.org.uk The University of Sheffield

With nearly 25,000 students from 125 countries, the University of Sheffield is one of the UK’s leading and largest universities. A member of the Russell Group, it has a reputation for world-class teaching and research excellence across a wide range of disciplines. The University of Sheffield was named University of the Year in the Times Higher Education Awards 2011 for its exceptional performance in research, teaching, access and business performance. In addition, the University has won four Queen’s Anniversary Prizes (1998, 2000, 2002, and 2007). These prestigious awards recognise outstanding contributions by universities and colleges to the United Kingdom’s intellectual, economic, cultural and social life. Sheffield also boasts five Nobel Prize winners among former staff and students and many of its alumni have gone on to hold positions of great responsibility and influence around the world. The University’s research partners and clients include Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Unilever, Boots, AstraZeneca, GSK, ICI, Slazenger, and many more household names, as well as UK and overseas government agencies and charitable foundations. The University has well-established partnerships with a number of universities and major corporations, both in the UK and abroad. Its partnership with Leeds and York Universities in the White Rose Consortium has a combined research power greater than that of either Oxford or Cambridge.