You're Not Alone in Your Imposter Syndrome
Mindfulness educator and social worker Trinh Mai and research manager Eduardo Zamora normalize imposter syndrome and share institutional, interpersonal and self-compassion strategies.
By Trinh Mai and Eduardo Zamora | 3 minutes
I鈥檝e been going nonstop the past year. It鈥檚 my third year as an assistant professor. I should feel more ease, settled in my position, but I don鈥檛. I obsess over my classes, prep and grading even though my student evaluations are positive. I obsess over my manuscripts and work hard to build relationships with everyone. Sometimes I wonder what I鈥檓 doing here in the ivory tower. How did I even end up here? No one looks like me, the live people around me or the dead ones on the walls.
Big parts of who I am are invisible or irrelevant in this setting: my background as an immigrant, my family's culture, the other languages I speak. How I got here feels so different from most of my colleagues that I often don鈥檛 even talk about it anymore. It doesn鈥檛 come up naturally the way their paths do. I also feel self-conscious when I speak about it because an awkward silence usually follows. I wonder if they just can鈥檛 relate or if they feel bad and don鈥檛 know what to say.
Sometimes I feel self-conscious when I speak because of my accent. I forget that I can speak 2 other languages but obsess at how I am not perfect at this one and my intelligence and qualifications can be judged because of it. So, I keep quiet most of the time in big group meetings. Then I worry that they see me as the immigrant woman stereotype: passive or subservient.
Do you feel a continual need/push to overperform or be perfect? Do you doubt yourself, your skills and talents even though you鈥檙e a high achiever and you receive positive feedback and outcomes? Or do you have recurring thoughts that you鈥檙e in your position not because of your skills and merits but out of luck?
These are common experiences of impostor syndrome or impostor phenomenon, first coined by psychologists in their work focusing on high achieving women. Most people sometime in their lives.
We may personalize this experience and blame ourselves, but there are conditions that contribute to the development of impostor syndrome in anyone. Some factors may include being new in a role or profession. Other contributors can be personality traits like perfectionistic tendencies, family culture and even attachment styles. Though research shows that men also experience impostor syndrome, most of the literature correlate women with impostor syndrome.
Research also shows higher prevalence of impostor syndrome in ethnic minoritized communities pointing to the significant and often invisible role of bias.聽
Imposter syndrome isn鈥檛 just an individual problem, but a community problem. of 62 studies shows that impostor phenomenon or syndrome is often comorbid with depression and anxiety and is correlated with burnout and impaired job performance. But it鈥檚 the community, not individuals, who need to change. As authors Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey , 鈥淓ven as we know it today, impostor syndrome puts the blame on individuals, without accounting for the historical and cultural contexts that are foundational to how it manifests in both women of color and white women.鈥
WHAT CAN WE DO
INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
More research on impostor phenomenon and systemic interventions is needed. Systemic efforts to establish and practice clear standards of equity, diversity and inclusion can increase a sense of belonging, reduce discrimination and impostor experiences for employees of all backgrounds. These efforts can change the reality of underrepresentation and disparity in pay that leads to women and minoritized groups to feel devalued or question their place in certain professions. Differences can be seen as a rather than as a deficit. When there is psychological safety, people are supported to be learners and to share more parts of themselves. Colleges and departments can intentionally reverse bias by investing in programs that support and mentor underrepresented professionals.
INTERPERSONAL CHANGE
Invest in community specific professional and social support. For example, studies have found that for women medical faculty and residents reduced systemic barriers and increased well-being and advancement. job-related stress and increase well-being for Black women professionals.
The feeling of not being alone, of belonging and community are protective and healing.
Having peers and mentors offers psychological support and practical support such as role modeling, connections and resources.
SELF-CARE & SELF-COMPASSION
For folks who experience impostor syndrome, we can acknowledge our experience, rather than add salt to the wound by blaming ourselves, minimizing our experience or powering through. Impostor experiences are real and impact our personal and professional well-being. We can respond with compassion and seek support.
Many report that knowing they鈥檙e not alone in this experience, increasing support through personal and professional networks as well as through therapy have been helpful in addressing impostor syndrome.
STOP TELLING WOMEN THEY HAVE IMPOSTER SYNDROME
One of Harvard Business Review鈥檚 most popular articles in 2021 was Ruchika Tulsyan and Jodi-Ann Burey鈥檚 鈥.鈥 They write, 鈥淭he answer to overcoming imposter syndrome is not to fix individuals but to create an environment that fosters a variety of leadership styles and in which diverse racial, ethnic, and gender identities are seen as just as professional as the current model鈥escribe[d] as usually 鈥淓urocentric, masculine, and heteronormative.鈥
RESOURCES
- How to Respond with Compassion when Someone is Hurt by Racism
- Learn more about mindfulness and compassion. :
- , begins 10/26/22
CONTRIBUTORS
Trinh Mai
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Eduardo Zamora
MPH Research Manager, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology & Bone Marrow Transfer, 91麻豆天美直播
