Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Ranked third in the world for reducing inequality, LSBU Group is one of the most diverse educational providers in the country and has a long history of having EDI at the heart of its work. Founded as the Borough Polytechnic Institute in 1892 with the aim of providing accessible opportunities to the people of South London, improving their employment prospects and advancing local businesses, it remains true to this vision 132 years later.
At LSBU Group, we firmly believe that our diversity is a source of our strength, and we actively recruit and support staff from a wide range of backgrounds, resulting in a workforce that is:
- 54% female
- 36% from a Black, Asian or other minority ethnicity
- 8% disabled
- 8% LGBT
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion isn’t something that we talk about on our website because we have to, we’re proud to say that EDI is woven into our very DNA. We’d love to welcome you to the LSBU community.
Ensuring equity and belonging for all our diverse staff and students is central to our EDI Strategy, and we report on progress against our aims annually in our EDI Annual Report and our combined Gender, Ethnicity and Disability Pay Gap reports
Our EDI programme of work is extensive, from our student-facing work around Decolonising the Curriculum and providing Disability and Dyslexia Support to a wide variety of staff-facing activities, including:
- Our five Staff Networks who provide a supportive community, visibility, and voice around disability, ethnicity, gender, LGBT+ and parents and carers
- A broad calendar of EDI activities and events to raise awareness and celebrate our different communities, such as our annual representation at London Pride.
- Our policies to support staff include our Reasonable Adjustments Policy, Trans and Gender Identity Guidance, Domestic Abuse Policy and Menopause Policy
- Our Report + Support platform, with trained Dignity at Work Advisers, provides holistic support and intervention to reduce discriminatory or unwanted behaviors.
- Our leave and pay enhancements around maternity and adoption.
- Plus, our independent accreditations acknowledge good practice in key areas, such as:
- Our Bronze awards under the Race Equality Charter and Athena Swan Charter recognise our commitment and action around race equality and gender quality.
- Our Level 2 Disability Confident status for our commitment and action for disabled staff
- Our Stonewall Silver Award for our commitment and action around LGBT+ inclusion
- Our Gold status under the Armed Forces Covenant demonstrates our support for members of the armed forces and their families
For more information, please contact our EDI team at EDI@lsbu.ac.uk or visit EDI at LSBU
In this section
- Staff Benefits
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
- Health and Wellbeing
- Personal and Professional Development