Imposter Syndrome

Women in the workforce, consistently report a very real sense of disparity and otherness. But it’s more than just otherness, we have problematized and even pathologized women to individualize the reasons for gender inequity. Blame the women…Fix the women…rather than address the societal, cultural, and organizational norms that create the barriers.

And one of these problems women are constantly told WE must fix is Imposter Syndrome. This episode addresses the three main themes in the imposter syndrome: 1. Not believing you deserve the success you have achieved. 2. A feeling of fraudulence about that success. 3. A feeling of dread that you will be “found out”. But we will also consider context when we are discussing imposter syndrome. Although research has shown that both men and women can experience the phenomenon – it is women, who tend to be the focus of the advice, workshops, books, and professional development initiatives aimed at overcoming the problem.

It is unfair to make this a women problem, BUT we should consider how women and persons of color disproportionately experience many workforce biases that HAVE contributed to the problem. Research shows that imposter syndrome is magnified by societal and organizational influences, and it is creating a culture of belonging rather than fixing women that is needed.

Organizations need to “lean in” to creating true belonging and rethinking organizational "fit". When we as women feel imposter syndrome it isn’t inherent to our gender it is amplified by the many biases we talk about here at the Advancing Women Podcast: stereotype threat, ideal worker norms, prescriptive gender stereotypes, think leader think male bias, tightrope bias, prove it again bias, in group/out group bias, and lack of fit, all which create the feelings of lack of belonging that perpetuate imposter syndrome. As Tulshyan and Burey note in their Harvard Business Review Article Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome “Imposter syndrome directs our view toward fixing women at work instead of fixing the places where women work.” In short, more focus on fixing the structural and organizational problems, less focus on fixing the women. #impostersyndrome #genderequity

“It’s not your fault, but it is your problem” ©

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Reference:

https://www.ted.com/talks/jodi_ann_burey_the_myth_of_bringing_your_full_authentic_self_to_work?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_may_shape_who_you_are?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

https://hbr.org/2021/02/stop-telling-women-they-have-imposter-syndrome