CASE STUDY 1 LGBTQ+ALLIES NETWORK SWANSEA UNIVERSITY
The School of Management with the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences (FHSS) in Swansea University, has established a LGBTQ+Allies Network, which is a joint venture between the Student Information Office (SIO) and the Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) Team. In the first iteration of the Allies Network, the primary area of focus was to improve the student experience of our Trans and Non-Binary Students and promote visibility. The rationale for this arose from discussion between the SIO and EDI Team, who recognised that whilst there has been development and a societal shift in recent years regarding LGB terminology & culture, the same cannot be said for Trans & Non-Binary matters, as most cisgender people are unfamiliar with the lived experiences of a transitioning or transgender person. Since June 2022, the School with FHSS has offered annually, a training session named ‘Stonewall Training to Academic & Professional Services Colleagues’, which takes place in June to coincide with Pride Month. Colleagues who complete the training are added to our ‘Allies List’ of identifiable staff, who students can feel comfortable and safe to express their preferred gender, pronouns or sexuality. This list is published to our students, titled ‘Making Connections: LGBTQ+ Students’ which contains information, resources and social opportunities for new LGBTQ+ students joining the School and Faculty. In June 2024, two years on from its inception, the LGBTQ+ Allies Network is working on re- branding and improving visibility. At its core, the first iteration of the network was to create and promote safe spaces where our students can be their authentic selves – while we have dedicated and enthusiastic staff who are trained, willing and able to support students, we feel they are not visible enough. With this in mind, we have created Safe Space logos and branding for use on office doors, laptops, water bottles (stickers), lanyards and badges for our staff ID cards. We plan to launch a communications campaign to complement the re-brand, so students know what these logos mean when they see them on staff offices and belongings. The rationale for this is that we not only hope our LGBTQ+ students and staff will feel safe and seen, but this will also bring LGBTQ+ inclusivity to the forefront of the School, Faculty and student body, continuing healthy dialogue.
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The journey of Welsh Business Schools
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