We’re all familiar with the term imposter syndrome, especially surrounding its disproportionate impact on women. In recent years, studies have consistently shown women experience impostor syndrome more frequently and intensely than their male counterparts.
Now, new research has revealed that the phenomenon, which is also known as ‘impostorism’ — is a distinct psychological experience that differs from low self-esteem or depression, affecting a staggering 97.5 per cent of women in STEM graduate programs in the US.
According to a report by psychology researcher, Jiyun Elizabeth Shin from Binghamton University, most of the 80 women she surveyed said they have felt at least a moderate level of impostor experiences.
“Impostorism is a feeling like being an intellectual fraud even when there is strong evidence of success,” Shin explained.
“You believe that other people are overestimating your abilities and intelligence, and you fear that one day you’ll be exposed as incompetent and undeserving of your success.”
Shin, a lecturer at the Social Identity & Academic Engagement Laboratory, suggests that having multiple marginalised identities, such as being a woman from a culturally or linguistically diverse background, may increase the likelihood of someone experiencing the phenomenon.
“When I talk about impostorism, students often come up to me after class to talk about their experiences,” she said last year. “Students share their experiences of impostorism, especially students from underrepresented groups such as first-generation college students, students of colour and students from low-income backgrounds.”
Last month, Shin published her findings in a paper in the journal Social Psychology of Education, where she explained the prevalence of impostorism and its relationships with mental health, burnout, dropout consideration, and achievement among graduate women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics in the US.
Her research concluded that female graduates who struggled with impostor fears usually fail to internalise their success and instead attribute it to external factors such as luck, or being at the right place at the right time.
Consequently, these individuals often harbour fears of being unable to replicate their success and worry that others will ‘discover’ that they aren’t as capable or intelligent as they appear.
“Findings from my research showed that impostorism predicted poorer overall mental health, greater burnout, and increased consideration of dropout among graduate women in STEM,” Shin said.
Her findings confirmed her hypothesis that “higher levels of impostorism would lead to greater psychological distress, greater levels of burnout and greater intentions of dropping out of their program,” as she previously predicted.
In STEM, common stereotypes mistakenly suggest that women lack the innate intellectual abilities required to succeed, which can make it more difficult for women in these fields to process their success.
The global, chronic lack of representation of women in the field also plays a role in the pervasiveness of impostorism, often serving to remind marginalised groups of female professionals about society’s negative attitudes of their abilities.
According to Shin, students who have a growth mindset (where they believe intelligence is malleable and can improve) have higher levels of interest in their field of study and a greater sense of belonging in their academic environment.
“They view themselves to be more compatible with their field of study. They’re also more likely to persist in their field,” said Shin.
On the other hand, students who harbour a fixed mindset (believing that abilities are innate and cannot be improved) tend to have a lower interest in their academic field, less sense of belonging and less persistence in their field, leading to them more likely to experience impostorism.
Shin also believes that the intensity of these experiences can depend on these high-achieving individuals’ reluctance to share their feelings, leading to further suffering and isolation.
“More research is needed to better identify strategies to reduce impostor experiences, but social support may be helpful in reducing impostor fears,” Shin added.
Shin has also surveyed the experiences of impostorism among female undergraduate students in the US. She hopes to devise ways of lowering the effects of impostorism for students.
“I want to develop a social psychological intervention targeting impostorism and, specifically, focusing on students from historically underrepresented groups,” Shin said last year.
“There are researchers looking at the long-term effects of these social psychological interventions, which can have years and years of positive impact. My hope is to create an intervention, but this time focusing on impostorism and help those who are struggling with imposter feelings.”
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