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Imposter syndrome is difficult to overcome, but it is possible

Nora Drewno & Gabe Rodriguez

According to Harvard Business Review, imposter syndrome is the suffering from chronic selfdoubt and a sense of intellectual fraudulence that can override any feelings of success or external proof of their competence. Imposter syndrome was first identified in 1978 by Psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes, from Georgia State University, whose studies observed high-achieving women who felt as though they had fooled everyone into believing how bright they were. Though the sample of this 1978 study consisted only of high-achieving women, imposter syndrome is a phenomenon that applies to many demographics. 

A general sentiment of imposter syndrome involves self-doubt, the constant worry of not living up to expectations, the attribution of success to uncontrollable factors, fixation, and/or the persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud. Imposter syndrome, according to imposter syndrome expert Dr. Valerie Young, can be expressed in five primary hallmark traits:

• Perfectionist: Continuously focuses on how something is done. Minor flaws are associated with failure. 
• Superhero: Finds competence in the number of roles that can be fulfilled. They view failure as the inability to fulfill any of their responsibilities.
• Natural Genius: Associates amount of time and effort needed to master a subject as level of success. The more time or effort needed to understand a problem at hand equates to the degree of failure.
• Soloist: Feels the need to figure out everything on their own. Asking for help feels like failure.
• Expert: Knowledge version of perfectionist. Focus is on “what” and “how much” you know. Not knowing something is associated with failure.

Within engineering school, it’s common for students to feel as though they embody at least one of these five hallmark traits to some degree. Engineering students are continuously taught to “fail forward.” That is, they should be open to failure, because it helps them to reflect and learn from their last iteration/attempt. Yet failure is often associated with a negative connotation among the engineering student body and it can rescind one’s self-worth and self-belonging in the competitive field of engineering. Similarly, success among students is too often characterized by comparing students’ successes to their own – often to the extent that they undervalue their own ability because everyone else in the class was able to accomplish the same challenge. 

Working within a stressful environment is difficult, however many students may not realize that even the seemingly quickest learners struggle with the same self-condemnation. Pluralistic ignorance, the rejection of a norm across a group of people, is a situation that often accompanies imposter syndrome. Students may feel isolated in their struggle to overcome the difficulties and anxieties of engineering school. Stereotype threat, the fear of falling into a demographic stereotype, is also a common hindrance in academic success. Students may feel they either are not living up to their demographic, or they feel they’re falling short because of it. Herein lies some of the main hindrances that can be overcome. 

One of the best perceived ways to overcome imposter syndrome is to talk about it with others. Though effective in combating pluralistic ignorance, it may not be enough to feel like less of an imposter, according to Dr. Young; rather, the goal is to change one’s mindset such that they are not an imposter. Dr. Young elaborated in her Ted Talk, “People who don’t feel like imposters aren’t any more intelligent or capable than you or I. That the only difference between you and us is they think different thoughts. That’s it, which is really good news because all we have to do is think like a non-imposter.” 

The goal in overcoming imposter syndrome is to shift one’s mindset and work to view a high-stress situation in a positive light. According to Dr. Young, the body can’t sense the difference between excitement and nerves, so expressing this notion is up to the individual. During a poster presentation, for example, someone who feels like an imposter may feel as though their explanation of their project effort was banal. Yet, someone who presented the same platform could have felt comfortable about the entire situation. It’s a matter of confidence. 

It’s important for each engineering student reading this page to remember that they belong in engineering. Although a student can experience a hard exam, a difficult presentation, an extensive and tiring report, he or she needs to remember that these moments shouldn’t define them. Rather, it should be a learning opportunity and a way for them to grow from the experience. The push to feel as though an individual belongs in engineering school is difficult, but it’s important to remember that each failure in school is a learning experience that helps to prepare future engineers.