Posted: 21/01/16
College’s commitment to equality recognised nationally
West Nottinghamshire College’s commitment to supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) staff has been recognised in this year's Top 100 annual Stonewall Workplace Equality Index.
(lr) Flying the flag for equality Alex Stone, Louise Knott and Jane Hawksford
Out of the hundreds of employers surveyed, the college also climbed 50 places to 93rd spot from 143rd position last year – and is the only Further Education college to feature in this prestigious listing.
The Top 100 list is based on the results of Stonewall's Workplace Equality Index, the twelfth published by the charity. The Index is based on a range of key indicators which include a confidential questionnaire of lesbian, gay and bisexual staff.
Questions asked in the survey include whether staff are comfortable disclosing their sexual orientation at work; whether there are visible LGBT role models in the place of work; and whether staff are confident in reporting homophobic behaviour in the workplace.
There were over 60,000 responses to the national staff survey this year, making it one of the largest national employment surveys in Britain. West Notts College first submitted an entry to Stonewall in 2014.
Chair of the college’s equality and diversity steering group, Louise Knott, said: “We’re very proud to be ranked in the top 100 list of the Workplace Equality Index. As a college we work very hard with our employees to promote diversity and inclusiveness.
“Our staff need to feel comfortable in their communities and in the workplace, regardless of their sexual orientation and we are very proud that we have developed a culture at the college where our employees can be themselves and therefore perform better.
“We want all staff to feel valued and respected so that they can continue to give of their best within their roles, and not be constantly concerned that their sexuality should be an issue when they come to work.”
Caption: Equality and diversity intern, Alex Stone, chair of equality and diversity steering group, Louise Knott and chair of the staff LGBT network, Jane Hawksford.
