Oxford places on 100 best LGBT inclusive workplaces two years in a row

The Stonewall Top 100 Employers is an annual audit of LGBT inclusion by employers across workplaces, services and communities. Oxford University placed on the list for the first time in 2019, earning a position at 93. The 2020 list sees Oxford move 17 places up the list to 76.

An active supporter and participant in national LGBT awareness activity including LGBT History Month, Oxford Pride, a Straight Allies Programme, an LGBT Role Models Programme, and also provides targeted initiatives that support LGBT+ staff and students, the University has long been a proud member of the Stonewall Diversity Champions programme. Participating annually in the Workplace Equality Index, and being included on the Top 100 list for the second time is an indication that the University’s work in this area is having tangible impact.

In recent years Oxford has invested a significant amount of time and resources in becoming more inclusive and accessible, and somewhere that students and staff of all genders, backgrounds and sexual orientations can thrive and realise their potential. While this work is ongoing, the University’s continued placement on the Top 100 list is an encouraging sign that the commitment has not gone unnoticed.

Image credit: Stonewall

For the second year in a row, Oxford University has been named as one of the UK’s most inclusive employers for lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender staff (LGBT) by the charity Stonewall, in its Workplace Equality Index 2020.

Dr Rebecca Surender, Advocate and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Equality and Diversity) at Oxford University, said: ‘I am incredibly proud that Stonewall has acknowledged the University’s continued work to strengthen our policies and practices to be truly inclusive.

‘Oxford is an institution which is proud to be a place of study and work that is both safe and welcoming to all its members. We are committed to ensuring that LGBT+ staff and students are able to thrive and realise their potential at the University.

‘All work in this area is carried out in partnership with the LGBT+ Advisory Group, and this acknowledgement is testament to the hard work of all involved who have helped on this journey including the LGBT+ Role Models, LGBT+ Allies, the LGBT+ Staff Network and the wider University community’.

As part of the Top 100, Stonewall collects more than 92,000 anonymous responses from employees on their experience of Britain’s workplace culture and diversity.

Dr Clara Barker, Chair of the LGBT+ Advisory Group, said: ‘I am really happy to see the continued support at Oxford University to our LGBT+ staff, and Stonewall values, being recognised. I look forward to our continual improve so that LGBT+ staff at the University are supported to be themselves and achieve their maximum potential at Oxford.’