Awards

We are proud to have achieved external recognition for our commitment to advancing equity, diversity and inclusion through the following charter marks and accreditations.

Athena Swan

The Athena Swan charter is a framework which recognises commitment to the advancement of gender equity in higher education and research. The charter is run by Advance HE.

Institutional award

The University of Leicester was proud to receive our first Institutional Athena Swan Charter Bronze award in 2008 for our work to improve the participation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine (STEMM). Our award was successfully renewed in 2011 and 2014. In 2015, the charter was expanded to recognise work undertaken in Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Business and Law (AHSSBL) and in professional and support roles, and for trans staff and students. The charter now recognises work undertaken to address gender equity more broadly, rather than just barriers that affect women.

In 2018, we achieved our first institutional Silver award to recognise a significant record of activity in addressing gender equity challenges and implementing actions across the institution. This award demonstrates both our impact and continued commitment to addressing gender equity challenges.

Our University’s Gender Equity Action Group oversees the implementation of our comprehensive action plan. Read our successful institutional Athena Swan Silver application and ambitious action plan (PDF, 3.3mb).

Departmental awards

As well as our institutional Silver award, we also hold a College level and a number of School level Athena Swan awards at both Bronze and Silver, which recognises our commitment to progressing gender equity through the development of local action plans.

Silver awards

• College of Life Sciences (awarded in 2020)
• School of Chemistry (awarded in 2022)
• School of Physics and Astronomy (awarded in 2024)

Bronze awards

• Department of Informatics (awarded in 2018)
• Department of Mathematics (awarded in 2018)
• Leicester Law School (awarded in 2020)
• School of Archaeology and Ancient History (awarded in 2019)
• School of Business (awarded in 2023)
• School of Museum Studies (awarded in 2019)

Disability Confident Scheme

The Disability Confident Scheme provides a framework to support organisations to develop a disability inclusive culture and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people.

In April 2024, the University was recognised for advancing disability equity by achieving Disability Confident Leader status as an employer, the highest level of the award.  

The validation process identified a number of areas of exemplary best practice, in particular, the excellent levels of collaboration with the Disability Staff Forum to drive change and inform disability inclusive policy and practice.

We are continuing our journey to advance disability equity and inclusion for our staff, and to meet our wider commitments as a Leader in the local area and nationally, through a three-year action plan, developed in conjunction with the Disability Equity Action Group.  

If you are considering joining us as a member of staff, we offer a Disability Confident Interview Scheme. We are committed to interviewing disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria for the job, wherever practicable.

Race Equality Charter

We are committed to eliminating racial inequity in all its forms. This includes action to eliminate our awarding gap, develop a truly inclusive curriculum and improve the ethnic representation of our workforce.

In 2016, we committed to the Race Equality Charter. Following a period of rigorous evidence-based self-assessment across our student and staff lifecycles, the University achieved its Bronze Race Equality Charter Mark in 2022. The process has enabled us to identify and begin addressing the institutional, structural and historical barriers which inform the experiences, opportunities and outcomes of our staff and students from minority ethnic backgrounds. Our aligned five-year action plan will ensure that progress is made to eliminate the identified barriers to race equity, and take forward our commitment to anti-racism.

The University supports the development and delivery of a range of activity to progress our commitment to eliminate racial inequities. This includes working with every academic school to develop race inclusion action plans, which are being delivered through the recently established University of Leicester Institute for Inclusivity in Higher Education, the implementation of an inclusive recruitment toolkit and the establishment of a race equity action group, who promote a culture of anti-racism, and who lead on action to address and eliminate historic and systemic institutional racism faced by minority ethnic staff and students, in all its forms.

The documents below will provide you with a summary of our submission, together with our action plan. We are working on sharing our full submission and will do so as soon as possible.

• Race Equality Charter Mark Bronze submission briefing (docx., 45kb)
• University of Leicester Bronze Race Equality Charter Mark submission and action plan (PDF, 16MB)

Stonewall

We have been a Stonewall Diversity Champion since 2013 and we remain committed to working closely with our staff and student LGBT+ community to drive cultural change. We want our LGBT+ staff and students to work and study in an environment free from prejudice and bias, where they feel valued and respected. Being a Stonewall Diversity Champion is important in providing a framework for us to develop our work in this areas. We want to understand the issues which are unique to Leicester and how we can work to drive positive change, and have a partnership with the Leicester LGBT Centre.

LGBT+ Inclusion Award

The LGBT+ Inclusion Award is a programme set up in partnership with De Montfort University, the University of Leicester, Leicestershire Police, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service and Leicester LGBT Centre. The award provides visible recognition for organisations across the region for their commitment to LGBT+ inclusive practices.