Confronting the"Imposter Syndrome" in the Adult Learning Classroom

Journal of Black Psychology, 2018

This study presents a culturally informed model of the impostor phenomenon construct for Black graduate students who attend predominantly White universities. The impostor phenomenon is an internal sense of intellectual fraudulence and a tendency to attribute success to external factors, such as luck. However, the original construct was conceptualized with a sample of White individuals and may not capture the culturally relevant factors for Black graduate students such as race or racial discrimination. Furthermore, only one empirical study investigates impostor feelings in Black graduate students. The current study addresses these gaps by using focus groups to qualitatively investigate the impostor phenomenon in 12 Black graduate students. Inductive thematic analysis revealed five themes ( Awareness of Low Racial Representation, Questioning Intelligence, Expectations, Psychosocial Costs, and Explaining Success Externally) and multiple subthemes. The findings extend the original const...

A purpose of higher education is to promote social equity by providing opportunities for historically underprivileged and disenfranchised individuals, families, and communities. This essay explores the prevalence and disempowering consequences of stereotype threat, fixed mindset, and imposter syndrome among college students who are the first in their family to attend college, come from low-income backgrounds, and/or belong to racially marginalized groups, specifically Black and Latinx students. This work not only offers an empirical and theoretical examination of these phenomena, but also explains how prejudice and discriminatory practices by faculty, whether intentional or unintentional and regardless of good intentions, generate or sustain negative stereotypes about higher learning among historically marginalized students. Extant literature indicates that these prejudices and stereotypes about the inherent limitations of their intelligence, abilities, and professional qualities persist despite their competencies and great potential for learning and academic achievement.

International Journal of Doctoral Studies

Aim/Purpose: Our study explores the factors contributing to the Imposter Phenomenon among doctoral students in the United States. Background: Many studies show that Imposter Phenomenon impacts women doctoral students and students from minority groups, especially if they are enrolled in Predominantly White Institutions. Our study focuses explicitly on contributing factors to the Imposter Phenomenon among doctoral students in the United States. The study also explored how Imposter Phenomenon is related to doctoral students’ academic goals and achievements. Methodology: We utilized a qualitative phenomenological research design and conducted semi-structured interviews (45-90 minutes) in person and via Zoom. This study was conducted at a public research university in mid-western United States. A total of 14 (3 male and 11 female) doctoral students participated in the study. These students self-identified as White (9), African American (1), South Asian (2), mixed race (1), and Latina (1)...

Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 2014

Mentoring for faculty of color is critical given their underrepresentation in American colleges and universities. However, the ways in which faculty of color internalize racialized oppression and how it affects their success remains understudied. In this manuscript, the authors juxtapose a literature synthesis concerning faculty of color against a critical review of impostorship theory and impostor syndrome as these phenomena are found to contribute to disparate success trends among marginalized groups in higher education. More specifically, the authors discuss the ways impostor syndrome is shaped among faculty of color and how this disorder is potentially reproduced through their relationships with students in postsecondary education. The authors conclude with implications for mentoring and developing faculty of color, proffering new ways of thinking about relevant frameworks and approaches.

Journal of Research, Assessment, and Practice in Higher Education , 2018

Members of minority populations are forced to hide behind a mask of stereotypes others associate to them. Individuals who feel fraudulent when they fulfill certain stereotypes, associate their success to external forces, define the problem as impostor syndrome (IS). The paper focuses on the prevalence and relevance of IS on college campuses. The session will explore the affect and effect of IS from different cultural lenses and discuss possible preventive and coping strategies for academic and mental health professionals. The purpose is to ‘unmask’ the impostor syndrome caused by stereotypes and stereotype threats that prevents individuals from reaching ‘new heights’ and compromise their existing talents.

Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice

We are three women who have all helped each other in our university careers. We are from different backgrounds, have varying educational experiences and have different roles. All three of us are neurodiverse and champion inclusive learning, teaching, and assessment in our professional roles and from personal experiences. Developmental mentoring and coaching brought us together to address feelings of discomfort in work situations where we second guess our own abilities. We have felt the effects of ‘imposter syndrome’ (Clance & Imes, 1978) but through mentoring we recognize our successes are justified. In this article we question the notion of ‘imposter syndrome’ and ask why this might be disproportionally applied to women (Tulshyan & Burey, 2021). We also offer an affirmation model of disability (Swain & French, 2000) as a framework, asking how this can be applied in a broader intersectional context. Recognising our abilities and not having a tragic view of disabilities has enabled u...

Research Handbook of Diversity and Careers

2020

This article highlights the STEM journey of four women of color that matriculated at four different types of universities (R1, PWI; HBCU; private, religious-based PWI; and an international HSI university) for their undergraduate STEM degrees. The ethnographical narratives shared by each, informed lessons learned about stereotype threat, imposter phenomenon, and the chilly environment that is present within male dominated STEM fields. The authors offer recommendations to reduce the consequences of these issues to include deliberate STEM identity development and STEM mentoring. Framed by the CLIC (content learning and identity construction) theoretical framework and Collins' (2018) Black student STEM Identity model (BSSI), vertical mentoring and service-learning best practices are discussed along with initial results of a pilot study designed to address these issues.

2018

In the 80 1 s there was an increasing realization amongst educationists in Singapore of the lack of career guidance in schools. Every year, thousands of young people leave the school system and drift into the labour market ignorant of their own vocational aptitudes and ill-prepared for the world of work. The result is poor person-job match and, in many instances, jobhopping and poor productivity.