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Gold Award for LGBT+ Inclusion

The University of Plymouth is delighted to have placed 45th in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index 2023, recognising our commitment to LGBT+ inclusion. The University of Plymouth's sector-leading work on LGBT+ inclusion has also been recognised with a prestigious Gold Employer Award
As a proud Civic University, we are committed to ensuring our campus is welcoming to everyone who can benefit from a University of Plymouth education and we look forward to building on these results to further strengthen this commitment for all staff, students and visitors regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. 
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What is the Stonewall WEI?

The Stonewall Workplace Equality Index (WEI) is the definitive benchmarking tool for UK employers to measure our progress on lesbian, gay, bi and trans inclusion in the workplace as well as measuring how inclusive our services are for students and rewarding good practice within the local community. It also includes an anonymous survey for all staff to complete about their experiences of diversity and inclusion at work. The University's submission was led by the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team with input from staff and students across the University including our LGBT+ Staff Network and University Women's Network

What does the score mean?

Hundreds of organisations take part in the WEI from a range of sectors including education, law, local government, banking and retail. The University of Plymouth was scored in eight different areas from employee policy and community engagement through to student experience and we ranked 45th overall. Within the education sector, the University of Plymouth ranked as one of the Top Ten Universities for LGBT+ inclusion. In fact, the University's work was so outstanding that we were also awarded a Gold Employer Award for demonstrating some of the best practice in the UK for LGBT+ inclusion.

Why does this matter?

According to research by Stonewall, 35% of LGBT+ people in the UK hide who they are at work and 18% have been the victims of homophobic and transphobic comments at work. In Universities across the UK, more than 42% of LGBT+ students hide their identity at University and 22% of Trans students have been assaulted because they are trans. This is unacceptable and must stop. 
We are incredibly proud to be a Top Ten University for LGBT+ Inclusion, particularly as this achievement in supporting LGBT+ staff and students has only been possible thanks to the hard work of staff in all departments across the University from Procurement and HR to Student Services and Student Wellbeing.
We also worked closely with all of our staff networks as well as Plymouth's incredible community groups such as Pride in Plymouth and Not Alone Plymouth. LGBT+ inclusion is the responsibility of everyone within our University community and we want our LGBT+ staff and students to know that we support and celebrate them every day of the year. 

Our award-winning work: