Oldest Dutch university creates world’s first LGBT workplace-dedicated University Chair

Amsterdam based, non-profit organisation Workplace Pride Foundation and Leiden University have announced plans to create the Workplace Pride Chair at Leiden University.

The first of its kind in the world, the Chair will aim to provide a focused and scientific, multi-disciplinary approach to the subject, striving to improve LGBT inclusion in the workplace and promoting the development and enhancement of scholarship in the field.

The Chair will be both domestic and international in scope and will foster recruitment of faculty members from among the best scholars in the world.

Simone Buitendijk, Vice Rector of Leiden University said: “Serious academic study on LGBT inclusion in the workplace has been a long time coming and Leiden University is proud to be part of this ground-breaking work”

The Chair’s first major sponsor is Dutch telecoms company KPN.

Janine Vos, Chief Human Resources Officer, KPN said: “This initiative is a milestone in the field of LGBT inclusion. KPN is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and we want people to feel free to be themselves. By supporting this initiative, we want to go further and really contribute to research on this topic.”