Black voices in science celebrated at Imperial event

Imperial students and prospective students joined a day of discussion, inspiration and community hosted by the Department of Mathematics last month.  

Over 180 students signed up to Black Voices in FoNS, which aimed to provide a valuable platform to showcase role models and promote meaningful representation within STEM. The event, held at Imperial College London, featured panels from current students in the Faculty of Natural Sciences, alumni and PhD students of black heritage, as well as workshops catering to current and prospectus students. 

Attendees heard from Professor Dr Nira Chamberlain OBE, award-winning mathematician and former President of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, as well as a leading advocate for diversity in STEM and the Black Heroes of Mathematics initiative.  

They also heard from Bidemi Ojudu, Vice President at JP Morgan and qualified Chartered Accountant, who has a Masters in Finance from Imperial College London. As well as Ifeoluwa (Lu) Afolayan, an engineer and co-founder of Aeropod who holds a dual Masters in Innovation Design Engineering from Imperial and the Royal College of Art. She leads R&D at Muju EarthTechnologies.   

"It is nice to be in spaces where black voices can be heard. I’ve always seen Imperial as a very prestigious school but now being here it makes me really want to strive to get here.”  Yamir Prospective student

Prospective students described the event as informative and instructive and said they benefited from seeing academics, students and speakers with similar backgrounds to themselves. They also said the Black Voices in FoNS event helped myth-bust a lot of what they thought they knew about Imperial and universities more widely. 

Yamir, a prospective student that wants to study medicine, said: “I found today very informative. It is very nice to see people that have achieved the things I want to achieve that look like me. It is nice to be in spaces where black voices can be heard. I’ve always seen Imperial as a very prestigious school but now being here it makes me really want to strive to get here.” 

Another student, Mohid, is interested in studying maths and physics. He said: “It has been really insightful, especially the keynote speakers. Getting an insight into what day-to-day life is, the requirements, and what to do to be aiming for a top-level university. It has been really helpful. There is always this stereotype that with good universities there is a lot of pressure, but they fail to recognise that with that pressure there is a lot of support.” 

‘I recognised a clear need for it’ 

The event was organised by Olivia Adu-Bofour, Student Experience Coordinator in the Department of Mathematics, following a previous event she put on focusing on Black in Maths. Speaking after the event, she said: “I developed this initiative because I recognised a clear need for it. There was a noticeable lack of representation of students of black heritage within the FoNS, and the data reflected this reality. I wanted to create an opportunity for collaboration across FoNS, enabling students to build meaningful connections and engage with role models and peers whose experiences they could relate to. 

I wanted to demonstrate to prospective students of black heritage that there is a place for them in STEM and at Imperial. Olivia Adu-Bofour Student Experience Coordinator

“At the same time, I wanted to demonstrate to prospective students of black heritage that there is a place for them in STEM and at Imperial. The event successfully achieved this aim, with every prospective student who attended reporting that they would now consider applying to Imperial as a result of their experience.” 

Current students were able to join workshops focused on LinkedIn and networking efficiently, while prospective students were able to join admission talks. 

Professor Vincent Savolainen, Associate Dean (EDI) in the Faculty of Natural Sciences, said: "I was delighted to welcome the students and witnessed wonderfully productive interactions between our students and prospective students answering their questions, everyone was so engaged and thoughtful, and it made for a truly rewarding exchange. 

“Olivia deserves real congratulations for the vision behind this event and for organising it so seamlessly. I hope this will help increase representation of students of Black heritage in our Faculty".