Our charter marks, awards and affiliations
Committing to gender equality
We have achieved an institutional Silver Athena Swan award, to acknowledge our gender equality work at Herts.
Committing to race equality
We hold a Bronze Race Equality Charter award, recognising our commitment to race equity.
Committing to disability inclusion
We have a Disability Level 2 Employer status award and continue to progress an accessible and inclusive environment for people with a disability.
Our charter marks, awards and affiliations provide a framework for Herts to continue creating an inclusive, fair environment for our community of staff and students, demonstrating our commitment to social justice and recognising the progress we have made.
Race
Herts currently holds a Race Equality Charter (REC) Bronze Award, which recognises our work to progress race equity and inclusion. Advance HE's Race Equality Charter provides a framework for universities to address structural and institutional disadvantages. At Herts, our REC submission and linked action plan enables us to progress initiatives and embed long term cultural and systemic change.
Everyone at the university has an ethnic background and this makes up an important part of our sense of identity. We strive to create an inclusive culture and an environment where all individuals can thrive, irrespective of race or ethnicity. Our race equity work demonstrates our commitment to improving the experiences, representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff and students at Herts.
Disability
Herts is committed to supporting staff and students living with a visible or non-visible disability. We are currently at Level 2: Disability Confident Employer, of the Disability Confident Scheme. The scheme is a voluntary government scheme designed to encourage employers to recruit and retain people with a disability and demonstrates we are an inclusive employer. Under the Equality Act 2010, a disability is defined as a physical or mental condition that has a long-term and substantial effect on your daily life.
We are also proud to be members of the Business Disability Forum, which supports our disability inclusion work. We are a member of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower to support staff and students living with a non-visible disability. We are also proud to be in partnership with Neurodiversity in Law, an organisation helping to eliminate the stigma often associated with people who think differently.
Gender
The Athena Swan Charter is a globally recognised framework which is used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education and research. The charter recognises work undertaken to address gender equality, to support greater inclusivity for people in all roles, of all gender identities, and those facing intersectional inequalities.
We are proud to have received the Silver Athena Swan award from Advance HE, recognising our sustained commitment to gender equality and diversity since our first award in 2018. This award builds on our previous Bronze status, reflecting significant progress in representation, career progression, and institutional culture.
Our Silver Athena Swan award highlights our significant strides in gender equality, underpinned by strategic leadership, transparent processes, and measurable progress. We are aware there is still work to do but female representation in senior roles has risen from 44% in 2019 to 52% in 2023 and our gender pay gap has decreased from 13% to 7.6%, with similar progress in closing the ethnicity pay gap.
Our academic schools hold the following departmental awards:
Silver awards
- Health and Social Work (2025)
- Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics (2024)
- Life and Medical Sciences (2023)
Bronze awards
- Schools of Law and Education: Law (2020) and Education (2017)
- Hertfordshire Business School (2019)
- Engineering and Computer Science (2019)
- Creative Arts (2018) (including Humanities (2017))
Research equality
We have held the HR Excellence in Research (HREiR) award since 2010, recognising our efforts to enhance working conditions for our researchers. Among other aims, the principles of HREiR include promoting diversity and equality in all aspects of the recruitment and career management of researchers.
LGBTQ+
Herts is a top 100 Employer in Stonewall’s UK Workplace Equality Index (WEI) - a definitive benchmarking tool for employers to measure their progress on lesbian, gay, bi, and trans inclusion in the workplace. We continue to address inequalities around sexual orientation and gender identity, to ensure that all LGBTQ+ staff and students are accepted in the workplace.
Mental health
We are committed to the Student Minds’ University Mental Health Charter, which provides a framework that supports the mental health of students and staff.
Our staff can also receive free professional counselling, legal advice or guidance in areas such as debt management via our partnership with experts HealthHero Assist. We have used our affiliation with HealthHero Assist, and relationships with the NHS and the Samaritans, to offer workshops and training to staff, supporting them in managing their own mental health and for managers, that of their team members.