{"id":18231,"date":"2023-05-17T02:25:11","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T00:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-bremen.de\/eule\/?p=18231"},"modified":"2026-04-10T15:45:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T13:45:19","slug":"impostor-feelings-and-how-to-deal-with-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-bremen.de\/eule\/2023\/05\/17\/impostor-feelings-and-how-to-deal-with-them\/","title":{"rendered":"IMPOSTOR FEELINGS AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week I attended a talk organized by the university within the framework of the Vereinbarkeitswoche<\/em> (2023<\/a>). The theme was related to the bridges between gender and internationalization in the academy. Something special caught my attention: most of the talk attendees reported having impostor feelings<\/strong> on more than one occasion, either during their time at the university or when they began their scientific careers.<\/p>\n

The topic is doubly interesting since we are in the European Mental Health Awareness <\/strong>month (small commercial: if you are interested in this topic, do not miss our following articles)\u2026but also because these feelings have crossed my mind several times. For instance, when I started my first job in Germany I felt that getting my position was more a stroke of luck than a logical consequence of my preparation and my effort. Like some of the conference attendees, I felt that I wasn\u2019t good or capable enough, that someone had taken pity on me and ignored my language deficiencies. I doubted myself so much that I didn\u2019t believe what was happening to me was true.<\/p>\n

After the experiences related in this conference I realized that I was not the only one with those thoughts. A colleague recalled that someone even dared to tell her once that she had gotten her job only because she was \u201cpretty\u201d and the professor in charge probably liked that, so the impostor feelings came. Here I would like to highlight two points:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The impostor is more common<\/strong> than we think: it has been studied that 70-82% of people face this phenomenon (Bravata, D.M. et al., Journal of General Internal Medicine, vol. 35, no. 4 , 2020). However, most of those who experience it prefer not to talk about it, which is why it has not yet been given the importance it deserves in many academic spaces.<\/li>\n
  2. The blame of impostor feelings (and the responsibility to do something about it) is not on individuals only, but on the historical and cultural contexts that propel its existence on the first place. The impostor phenomenon is especially prominent among people with underrepresented<\/strong> identities.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The concept (\u201cimpostor syndrome\u201d) was originally developed by the psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes in a 1978 study, which focused on high-achieving women. It was defined as doubting ones abilities and feeling like a fraud. However, impostor \u201cphenomenon\u201d or \u201cexperience\u201d are more adequate terms for it, since the word \u201csyndrome\u201d normally refers to a clinical diagnosis. The most common feelings related to the impostor include a degree of anxiety, second-guessing, struggling with the sense that one hasn\u2019t earned what is achieved, and the sense that one doesn\u2019t belong.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    10 WAYS TO DEAL WITH THOSE IMPOSTOR FEELINGS<\/strong><\/p>\n

    At the personal level:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Let go of perfection. Acknowledge that you don\u2019t know everything (no one does) and instead be open to new learning opportunities. Focus on progress.<\/li>\n
    2. Recognize and celebrate your abilities and achievements. If possible, write them down\u2026own them. Go to that list whenever you start doubting yourself, use it as evidence.<\/li>\n
    3. Pay attention when someone congratulates you and reflect on even your small successes. For example, print an email with positive feedback and have it near your desk for when you need an external reminder.<\/li>\n
    4. Also welcome your mistakes (everyone has them). They don\u2019t stop you nor define you.<\/li>\n
    5. Never take yourself prematurely out of an opportunity because of fear to failure. You\u2019ll never know what could have been if you don\u2019t try. Remember you\u2019re not judging.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      At the collective level:<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Make sure that everyone is represented: hire and promote people with underrepresented identities too. Only white or male leadership can leave marginalized individuals feeling like they don\u2019t deserve their place.<\/li>\n
      2. Talk supportively to a friend or colleague that minimizes their accomplishments. Apply the same supportive language to your own narration. We\u2019re stronger together.<\/li>\n
      3. When working in teams, credit everyone for their own work, express thanks, and highlight what others contributed as well.<\/li>\n
      4. Open spaces to share impostor feelings and experiences. Connect in empowering communities that can provide validation and empathy. That may be easier with people from similar backgrounds. Hear the impostor stories of respected mentors and role models\u2026they have them too (Leaders who have struggled with impostor syndrome<\/a>).<\/li>\n
      5. Be compassionate. Our procedures should pursue community over competition.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        This project in the university is trying to address the struggles of impostor and related feelings in the academic environment, and also connect women of color in science: Training und Beratung\/BIG<\/a>.<\/p>\n

        Before ending this article here\u2019s an important reminder:<\/p>\n

        \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Impostor feelings in the academic environment are more common than we think: doubting ones abilities and feeling like a fraud? Welcome to the +70% of the people club! However, we’ve prepared some strategies to deal with it here, both on the individual and collective levels. Hey, you’re not alone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14272,"featured_media":18234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10841,1023309,1023067,1023098,1023066],"tags":[704280,580302,1023100,1023099,820165,897987],"class_list":["post-18231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-aktuell","category-english-articles","category-international","category-mental-health","category-uni-life","tag-campus-blog","tag-campus-eule","tag-impostor-feelings","tag-impostor-syndrome","tag-mental-health","tag-psychologische-beratung"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-bremen.de\/eule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-bremen.de\/eule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-bremen.de\/eule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-bremen.de\/eule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-bremen.de\/eule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18231"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-bremen.de\/eule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18239,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-bremen.de\/eule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18231\/revisions\/18239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-bremen.de\/eule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-bremen.de\/eule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-bremen.de\/eule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-bremen.de\/eule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}