Diversity & equality

Bishop Grosseteste University’s commitment to equality and diversity is manifest in all our work and in the first of our values as a Church University – “We are committed to being an inclusive community which fosters an ethos of mutual respect, trust and care“.

As a public body BGU is subject to specific duties as outlined in the Equality Act 2010, which requires public bodies to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people from different groups. The Act also extends the characteristics protected by law resulting in nine protected groups and so discrimination is now unlawful on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy and maternity, gender reassignment, race, religion and belief, marriage and civil partnership, and age. Higher Education Institutions are required to publish objectives and information explaining how they will meet this duty.

Linked to this page in our annual Diversity and Equality Report is a summary and analysis of the information we currently collect to support our compliance with the act and our wider work on diversity and equality.

Based on this data and on consultation with staff and students we have provisionally identified four specific equality objectives. These are subject to further consultation and approval. They cover the ethnic diversity of both the staff and student body; the gender balance within the BG student body; the gap in employability outcomes between disabled and non-disabled graduates and the development of better baseline data in relation to staff and students with certain protected characteristics, notably in relation to religious belief, sexual orientation and gender identity. Further details of the proposed objectives and actions planned to achieve will be published here in due course.