STEMM: Thriving Muslim students at Imperial
A reliable support system within Imperial for Muslim students.
For many students, networking events, socials, and career fairs at Imperial are simply fixtures of their academic life. They are informal gateways into mentorship and the professional world.
For many Muslim students, these gateways are often closed before they even arrive. The culture surrounding these events – drinking, nightlife, and an unspoken expectation of social assimilation – quietly draws a line between those who can participate fully and those who must navigate the sidelines. Navigating Imperial means balancing the pressure to excel with the desire to remain grounded in their values.
As one Muslim student put it bluntly: “It’s really hard when there aren’t many Muslims in your course, and you don’t go to the social stuff because you’re not comfortable in those environments”.
Where do you get the support?
The answer, for a growing number of students, has become STEMM – the STEM Muslim Society.
Roots of STEMM Society
Formed in 2022, after a conversation between two friends in a random G-room in the Sir Alexander Fleming building, STEMM began as a simple idea: create a space where Muslim students can achieve academic excellence without compromising Islamic values. What started with an improvised launch event (complete with homemade milkshakes) has since grown into one of Imperial’s most rapidly expanding societies. This year, for the first time, it is officially recognised by the Union – a milestone that reflects its growing presence and impact.
But what makes STEMM different from other societies?
What makes STEMM unique is that it operates where institutional structures fall short. Rather than duplicate the Islamic Society’s (ISOC) spiritual focus, the society was designed to support the academic and professional lives of Muslim students. This ranges from subject-specific tutorials and Python workshops to tailored career fairs, industry panels, entrepreneurship competitions, and an annual hackathon that has become the largest Muslim student-led hackathon in the UK.
The committee explains that, “We need these career events to see people like us in top positions…it reminds us that we can do so much more.” In a climate where Islamaphobia in the UK continues to rise, those reminders are not small. They are empowering.
Focus of the society
Every year, STEMM shifts its focus to meet the community’s needs. One cohort prioritised building the careers pipeline, culminating in their first careers fair. The next expanded academic support, formalising tutorials across departments. This year, the society is launching an ambitious programme of three STEM days, giving school students access to labs, demos, and mentorship opportunities that many would otherwise never experience.
Belonging should not require compromise.
Across all these projects, the society attempts to convey that belonging should not require compromise.
In some ways, STEMM’s rapid growth highlights the truth that academic excellence can be built in communities that feel accessible, welcoming, and safe. When those communities don’t exist, students build them themselves.
