Imposter Syndrome

By Alison Heyerdahl

Have you ever felt as if you didn’t belong or that you didn’t deserve your job title and accomplishments?  Perhaps you secretly worry that your friends and colleagues may discover that you’re a fraud and that all your success was due to luck or other external factors.

If so, you may be struggling with imposter syndrome, a phenomenon that affects up to 70% of people at some point in their careers. Women tend to be uniquely affected, particularly high-achievers who have risen through the ranks.  However, the concept of imposter syndrome as applied to women may be a problematic diagnosis, because it doesn’t take into account the legitimate gender and ethnic biases that cause feelings of discomfort and anxiety prevalent in many workplaces. 

What is imposter syndrome?

Imposter syndrome is essentially an internal experience of believing that you have succeeded due to luck, but not on real merits, such as your talents or qualifications.  It is the feeling that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be, and as if at any moment you will be discovered as a fraud – as if you don’t belong where you are. 

The term ‘imposter syndrome’ was coined by psychologists Suzanna Imes and Pauline Rose Clance in 1978.  It was originally thought to apply mainly to high-achieving women, suggesting that “despite outstanding academic and professional accomplishments, women who experience the imposter phenomenon persist in believing that they are really not bright and have fooled anyone who thinks otherwise.” Their research inspired decades of leadership programs and initiatives to address imposter syndrome in women.  However, since then, imposter syndrome been recognized as a more widely experienced phenomenon.  In fact, Clance published a recent paper acknowledging that it can affect men or women from any ethnic background or class. 

Furthermore, the concept of imposter syndrome as applied to women in the 1970s did not take into account the real challenges women experience coming into a largely male-dominated workplace.  The original concept of imposter syndrome directs its attention at fixing women at work instead of addressing the issues at the places where women work.  In other words, while women may inherently suffer from imposter syndrome, factors present in the work environment may exacerbate its presence.   

What are the characteristics of imposter syndrome?

Imposter syndrome is characterized as experiencing high levels of self-doubt, the inability to realistically assess your competence or skills, overachieving together with downplaying your accomplishments, attributing your success to luck or external factors, sabotaging your own success, and setting unrealistic goals that are impossible to achieve. 

In their seminal paper, Clance and Imes found that women employed hard work and diligence as a cover-up for their perceived inadequacy.  Receiving praise would result in a temporary feeling of accomplishment, and once these good feelings subsided, they would again return to worrying about their ability to perform.  There was no internalization of the successful experience.  Adding to the burden is the feeling that any mistake is interpreted as proof of their inadequacy, rather than as an artifact of being human.

As a result, many people with imposter syndrome tend to self-sabotage under the pressure.  This often comes in the form of procrastination, which serves as a method to expose their status as an imposter, perhaps in the hopes of realizing it and hence releasing the anxiety and stress of feeling like a fraud.

What causes imposter syndrome?

People that struggle with imposter syndrome tend to wonder if it’s an inherent part of their being.  However, recent findings suggest that it may not be part of your character, but rather a result of certain family dynamics, work environments, and belief systems generated by the roles you play.  You may also struggle to let go of certain thoughts and behaviors, and feelings connected to imposter syndrome because of the belief that your accomplishments are inextricably linked to these behaviors, and if you let them go, all would be lost.

Compensatory behaviors such as overworking or over-preparing are the hardest to change because they are also often reinforced by our working environments.  For example, working exceptionally long after-work hours means that you get more work done and push ahead of deadlines.  As a result, no one will reprimand you, and you will likely receive the praise you are seeking for being a good, worthy employee. 

As alluded to before, this phenomenon is often exacerbated in women who work in male-dominated environments where gender stereotypes are either reinforced or not recognized.  In this respect, even if women demonstrate strength, ambition, competence, and good leadership, their daily battles with subtle forms of aggression, such as expectations and assumptions formed by stereotypes and racism, only serve to reinforce the presence of imposter syndrome.  The onus, therefore, should not only be on the individual to seek solutions for this effect but also fall on the workplace to change systems that perpetuate discrimination and abuse of power.

Strategies to overcome imposter syndrome

If you feel like a fraud, working harder to do better may not do well to change your self-image.  One of the first steps in overcoming imposter syndrome is acknowledging the thoughts that perpetuate this narrative.  The story you tell yourself keeps you filled with self-doubt, downplaying your accomplishments, and believing that your success is only due to hard work and a pleasant demeanour. Although it may be difficult initially, changing your narrative involves acknowledging your achievements, identifying the distortions in your story, and claiming a more positive, complex, and balanced perspective.  

Talking to a trusted friend or mentor about your feelings can help you develop more perspective on your situation.  Sharing these feelings can also make them seem less overwhelming.  Opening up to others about how you feel encourages them to do the same, allowing you to realize that you are not alone in this regard.  It also creates the opportunity to share strategies for overcoming these feelings and the challenges you may encounter. 

Reframing your thoughts is also helpful.  When imposter feelings surface, ask yourself whether there are any facts to support these beliefs.  If not, begin to internalize the positive characteristics that support the ideas that you are competent, capable, and worthy of all that you have accomplished.

With respect to workplaces that perpetuate the imposter syndrome in individuals, the answer is to create an environment that rewards a variety of leadership styles.  Organizations must develop a culture for women and people of color that address gender bias and racial discrimination.  Only by creating a supportive work culture can experiences culminating in imposter syndrome among marginalized employees be channeled into a healthy self-image and positive motivation.

Conclusion    

People who experience imposter syndrome often work much harder than is necessary to ensure that nobody discovers they’re a fraud.  This, however, sets up a vicious cycle that only serves to perpetuate the issue.  The journey to conquering imposter syndrome begins with a commitment to changing the story you tell about yourself and valuing your positive attributes and accomplishments.  Organizations should also work to acknowledge the presence of gender and racial biases and seek to create inclusive work environments that encourage a variety of leadership styles. 

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