The Imposter SyndromeWhen Successful Women Feel Like Frauds

WIT Program, RMOUG Quarterly Education Workshop, May 2013

Definition The psychological experience of

believing that one’s accomplishments came about not through genuine ability, but as a result of having been lucky, having worked harder than others, or having manipulated other people’s impressions, has been labeled the impostor phenomenon

“I’m a fraud, they’re onto me!” -Tina Fey, popular actress and awards host“They must be speaking directly to me…” -Sherly Sandberg, Facebook COO and author of “Lean in” while attending Harvard speech on “Feeling Like a Fraud”“I’m always looking over my shoulder, wondering if I measure up.” – Sonia Sotmayor while attending Princeton

The Imposter Syndrome

Term was keyed in 1978 by psychologist Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes .

Valerie Young, Ed.D, author of “The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women” says little has changed in three decades since.

Even more susceptible now that ever.

Symptoms Faking it Imposter Was just lucky Can’t internalize successes High levels of self-doubt Deep level of inauthenticity Just fooling everyone Fear of exposure

Keep in Mind- It is not perceived to be a psychological

disorder among people, but it has been the topic of research for many psychologists.

Evidence gathered from research does not support the idea that this syndrome is a distinct personality trait, but certain people are more prone to impostor feelings.

Gender Differences Boys are taught to bluff and exaggerate Girls are taught to not trust their

opinions and stifle their voices.

How does this impact the growth patter of self-esteem?

Susan Pinker Author of “The Sexual Paradox, the Real

Gender Gap” Discusses the fraud syndrome:

“…it is purely limited to successful women; successful men apparently never feel like they are frauds.

Costs to Companies"The cost to their companies in terms of unrealized human potential can be enormous. … When qualified workers fear risks, get caught in the 'expert trap' and are prone to perfectionism and procrastination, there's a leak in the corporation's human resources pool.

Career Choice Impacts In male-dominated fields women are

more vulnerable to feeling like frauds. Often women in technical fields

specialize later-on in their lives in their field of choice.

Work allowed to spill less into personal life.

May be only woman on team.“I must have fooled them..”

The Gender Gap Males are more likely to blame outside

influences where women are more likely to blame themselves.

Women, when surveyed, believed that their performance directly reflects on their female peers.

Women believed their were being watched more closely on performance than men did.

Biggest Impact Its not discrimination, but…

Stereotyping, which is evident from both genders and not just from older age groups.

Cumulative Effect Holding Back Over working Giving up Procrastinating Taking criticism too personally Qualifying contributions

Perfect Matches? The Dunning–Kruger effect is a

cognitive bias in which unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher than average. This bias is attributed to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their mistakes.

Theories Special Minority Programs may add to

feelings of inadequacy- “I was only hired because I was black/female/etc.” instead of recognizing that the person was hired for their skills.

Never Let Them See You Sweat Or make a mistake. Or be less than in your best condition. Or perform less than perfect. Or take the best path in life. Or accomplish twice as much as anyone

else in ½ the time….

Small Talk "This may not be right, but…" “I don’t know if I should add this, but” "Anyone could have done it" “I didn’t provide much.“ “I’m sure you can find someone more

qualified than me.”

Worry, Worry and Worry dismissive attitude when praised . feeling that peers with the same

responsibilities are more capable. reluctance to accept new responsibilities

or challenges for fear of failure . difficult reaction to constructive

criticism. worrying that others will begin to realize

their shortcomings.

Recognition Your contributions matter. Your skills are important. It’s alright to make mistakes- the

importance is to learn from them. Surround yourself with supportive

individuals. Stop asking for permission.

Ways of Addressing Taking risks or completing tasks that are

undesirable can help address fear of failure.

Ask oneself directly what in the past or childhood may make one feel inadequate.

Its not a mistake the first time, it’s experience.

When it happens… When having a direct comparison, look

honestly at your accomplishments and establish if you aren’t acknowledging your own.

Actively recognize and avoid negative or destructive thoughts, (imposter syndrome).

Recognize negativity in others that may impact your ability to see your contributions.

How to Stop it… Chalk it up to a lessons learned, (not a

mistake..) Be kinder to yourself. We are our worst

critics. Seek Support from mentors and others

that can offer you an honest view. Visualize your success!

Final Thought… “ A successful man is one who can lay a

firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him. ”

— Sidney Greenberg

Women need to recognize this more…

References http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudr

eau/2011/10/19/women-feel-like-frauds-failures-tina-fey-sheryl-sandberg/

http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/22/imposter-syndrome-professional-fraud-forbes-woman-leadership-psychology.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome