We have received a Gold Award and secured a place in the Top 100 list for leading LGBTQ+ inclusive employers in the workplace in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index 2023.
Stonewall is Europe’s largest charity for LGBTQ+ rights. The Stonewall Workplace Equality Index is a benchmarking tool for employers to measure their progress on LGBTQ+ inclusion and it recognises institutions that do significant work towards supporting their LGBTQ+ employees. The Top 100 Employers list is compiled from submissions to the Workplace Equality Index.
Middlesex University ranked 58th out of 268 institutions in the overall ranking, and 8th out of the 30 Higher Education Institutions placed in the 2023 Index. This is a significant achievement for the University and our community, substantially building upon our previous Bronze status and climbing up 45 places from last year’s ranking.
The Workplace Equality Index is also an important point to understand where we sit institutionally, how we can improve and do better to support everyone in our University community. Our Stonewall Workplace Equality Index Self-Assessment Team, drawn from academic and professional services from across our University community, gathered evidence of our work on LGBT+ inclusion from our LGBT+ and Gender Networks, MDXSU Liberation Groups, employment policy, training and academic practice in order to evidence our credentials as an inclusive employer and service provider to our students and community.
They provided evidence on: Policies and Benefits; the Employee Lifecycle; LGBT Employee Network Group; Empowering individuals; Leadership; Monitoring; Supply chains; and External Engagement and Service Delivery (Community Engagement/Sector Engagement/ Service Delivery).
Change Maker of the Year
Ant Babajee, a CRM Manager at Middlesex and co-chair of the University's LGBT+ Staff Network, has been named a Change Maker of the Year in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index 2023.
This recognition goes to individuals who are doing inspiring work within their institutions and beyond to ensure there are inclusive working environments and a welcoming community for us all. Over the past decade, Ant has campaigned tirelessly and collaborated with institutions and charities to raise awareness about HIV, as well as volunteering in numerous roles.
A lot of what I do as a Change Maker happens outside of my workplace, and I am incredibly thankful to Middlesex for supporting all of my LGBT+ and HIV advocacy and activism. When I joined the University in 2016, I was so heartened that there was an active and thriving LGBT+ Staff Network. As the Network's co-chair, I have been overwhelmed by the support from colleagues – right from the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor and throughout the University.
The LGBT+ Staff Network (page only accessible to Middlesex University staff) aims to provide a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment for, and promote the interests of, LGBT+ staff at Middlesex. It also aims to promote the interests of LGBT+ students and raise awareness of any issues they may face at the University.
All LGBT+ staff and allies are welcome to join our LGBT+ Network as part of the committee, the wider network or by popping into events and spaces that we provide, though some of which are specifically reserved for LGBT+ defining people. The Network celebrates, supports, uplifts and encourages those who are LGBT+ through the sharing of stories during LGBT+ History Month, monthly coffee mornings, Women and Non-binary People’s Spaces, quizzes and socials. Each year the Network organises a variety of activities which represent the diverse number of identities within the LGBT+ community, in an accessible and inclusive way.
The Network advocates for the rights of all LGBT+ defining people, including providing training on making MDX trans and non-binary inclusive, hosting fundraisers for charities supporting those with HIV, and attending inclusive Pride celebrations as a community to protest and to increase our visibility.
In collaboration with our students’ LGBTQ+ Liberation Group and other diversity networks, it ensures that we use an intersectional approach to event and campaign planning for those who may face other types of discrimination that intersect with their LGBT+ identities.
