Nicola Gale

I am a Professor in Health Policy and Sociology, at the Health Services Management Centre, in the School of Social Policy. I have worked in both the College of Medical and Dental Sciences and the College of Social Sciences at the University, and I particularly specialise on issues of the healthcare workforce and professions. I’m also the Deputy Director of Research (Impact and Engagement) for the College of Social Sciences.

Over the last 8 years, I’ve conducted a series of research projects and been involved in debates and discussions at University level about inclusive education – with a focus on sexual orientation and gender diversity.  I host an international network of academics, professional services, and students committed to LGBTQ+ inclusion on twitter (@LGBTQinHE)

I think LGBTQ+ staff profiles are primarily important to help to ensure that members of staff who want to be out feel comfortable to do so because they can see that others are happy to do so and the institution supports them. However, being a member of the LGBTQ+ community does not automatically make you an expert on issues affecting everyone in that community, so in my research and leadership practice I have been committed to work with both LGBTQ+ and cis/straight staff to explore how they support LGBTQ+ students and how they can be more inclusive in their teaching and supervision. My own identity as a pansexual cisgender women, who has been in a monogamous marriage for some years now to another cisgender woman who identifies as a lesbian, gives me certain insights into the experiences of lesbian, bi and pansexual women but not necessarily gay men, asexual people or trans* people so I am always working to become a better ally to other parts of the LGBTQ+ community.

The evidence I have from our work and outreach is that we are one of the most LGBTQ+ friendly universities in the UK and internationally. We do a huge amount of work and there is a great deal of awareness and enthusiasm for working around equalities in general. However, we should not be complacent because we still have huge issues regarding equality, particularly in the context of our new campus in Dubai. We still have a long way to go before we are fully inclusive of across the spectrum of gender diversity and we have a massive underrepresentation of BAME academics within the institution. These remain issues that need to be addressed.