Higher and higher! York St John University continues its ascent of Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers!

Staff celebrate the result. Hover to see the real celebration!

We are very proud to receive recognition for our ongoing work to advance equality by rising 17 places to reach 61^st in Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers 2016. This is a strong testament to the hard work put in across the University to move from implicit acceptance to explicit embrace.

Last year we were delighted with our rank of 78^th, but this year’s position is even more rewarding given the context: more organisations than ever (an 8% increase) submitted to the Workplace Equality Index, the exercise that determines the top employers, and with the competition getting ever tougher a fifth of last year’s Top 100 fell out. Rankings aren’t important, but the ever-increasing body of work that it reflects is.

We have more of this work planned this year, with a raft of events happening throughout February as part of a the biggest York LGBT History Month festival to date, continued collaboration with and support for local and regional groups, charities, businesses and networks, and engagement with national organisations including Stonewall and Inclusive Networks.

Stonewall’s Yorkshire representative, Josh Willacy, said:

York St John have worked incredibly hard this year by continuing to create an inclusive environment for LGBT staff. The university has been ahead of the curve and have put their support behind some really important projects, including the northern launch of Stonewall’s Christian Role Models for LGBT Equality book, which they hosted. With more submissions than ever before, to build on last year’s rank is a real achievement, and their place in the Top 100 is very well deserved.

For more information including quotes from Vice Chancellor Professor Karen Stanton and Stonewall Chief Executive Ruth Hunt, check out the University press release.