‘Maybe She’s Born with It, Maybe It’s Wider Systemic Issues’, by Meg Coates

Have you ever been at work and thought something similar to the following:

"I'm a total fraud, I don't belong here, and sooner or later, everyone is going to find out."

If you have, you aren’t alone, it's part of a wider phenomenon known as imposter syndrome; the diagnosis of which has recently been called into question for its validity and oversimplification of its root cause.

But first, what actually is imposter syndrome?

The “Imposter Phenomenon” was first described by Dr Pauline Clance in 1985 as follows, “to exist in professional women as intense feelings that their achievements are undeserved and worry that they are likely to be exposed as frauds which in turn causes distress and maladaptive behaviour”.

Although the phenomenon was at first thought to only be present in working women, wider studies have shown that this is not the whole truth; both men and women alike have been known to experience it. Furthermore, it’s not exclusive to workers either. Students and other academics experience it too. In short, imposter syndrome affects anyone who is not able to internalise their own success.

In fact, it’s estimated that 70% of people will experience at least one episode of the imposter phenomenon in their lives, according to a 2007 study.

But what causes these feelings of self-doubt and fraudulence? Were we just built this way? Or are there bigger, more systemic issues at play?

Why does imposter syndrome exist?

As highlighted by Tulshyan and Burey (2021), there is actually very little research into why imposter syndrome exists...

Some evidence suggests that family expectations may be a factor. People who grew up in homes where a big emphasis is placed on achievement, in particular parents who send mixed messages – alternating between over-praise and criticism – can increase the risk of experiencing imposter syndrome. 

But perhaps the biggest factor at play in terms of your likelihood to experience imposter syndrome is your ‘minority status’.

Yes, if you’re a member of a minority group (not a white, cis-gendered, heterosexual, non-disabled man), you’re much more likely to experience imposter syndrome. This is perhaps unsurprising. After all, even being labelled a ‘minority group’ causes enough feelings of displacement and ‘un-belonging’ before we add on extra stressors such as workplace politics.

This IS a man’s world

In her book, Invisible Women, Caroline Criado-Perez, discusses how women are all too often overlooked (and in some cases, missed out completely!) in research. There’s a huge gender data gap which has led to our world being completely and absolutely designed for men. It’s important to note that this wasn't done purposefully, but rather without intention.

Dating back to ancient Greece, it’s been commonly accepted that ‘man’ is the default human model. Over time, this has meant that in most studies, the majority or even the total participants in tests and research projects are male.

This has led to almost every aspect of modern society being designed around men; the height of shelves in supermarkets, crash test dummies, cars, phones, the room temperature in an office, medication, diagnoses and prescriptions. 

Why is this an issue?

Let's take one of the above examples, the crash test dummy.

Did you know that when a woman is involved in a car crash, she is 47% more likely to be seriously injured and 71% more likely to be moderately injured? She’s also 17% more likely to die. This is because when car crash tests are run, the dummies used are designed with the average weight, height, and other general physical dimensions of a man.

Thankfully, since the discovery of these statistics, some work has been done to decrease the risks to women through the introduction of a smaller crash test dummy. BUT this dummy does not have breasts accounted for and was only tested out in the passenger seat... So, ladies, when in a car, please be sure to drive safely.

Data gaps also exist where other intersections are concerned. For example, in Clance’s initial study into imposter syndrome in women, many minority groups were excluded including women of colour, people with various income statuses, and professional backgrounds…

The problem with the term diversity and ‘inclusion’

There’s an issue in the current attitude towards the word ‘inclusion’ and what it actually means in that most attempts to include minority groups require the person to adapt to the current social culture, not for the social culture to change and become more diverse and accepting.

The same problem exists with the current positioning of imposter syndrome as being an individual issue; ‘it's you who needs to change fit in’, instead of, ‘let me adjust our environment so your needs are also catered to’.

Why should we be “fixing” women to fit into an environment that was initially built to exclude them when we could instead fix the environment so the same problem doesn't keep happening?

About Meg

Meg is the Head of Operations for Women in CX. She started her career in 2021 as an intern in Digital Marketing and Communications before moving into Community Management and eventually into the work she does today, designing and creating digital experiences and operations across platforms.

She has published two articles with My Customer exploring the intersections of performative allyship and customer experience, and as a neurodivergent queer-person, is a passionate advocate for intersectional feminism.