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Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome
This might come across as a hot-take, but the idea of ‘imposter syndrome’ may not be the right answer for how women experience life in the workplace.
Imposter syndrome “is loosely defined as doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. It disproportionately affects high-achieving people, who find it difficult to accept their accomplishments. Many question whether they’re deserving of accolades.” The concept of imposter syndrome can impact many groups of people in different environments, including people of color in predominantly white organizations, first-generation college students, or other high-achieving people starting in new organizations.
The authors, Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey, in Harvard Business Review, question “why imposter syndrome exists in the first place and what role workplace systems play in fostering and exacerbating it in women. We think there’s room to question imposter syndrome as the reason women may be inclined to distrust their success.”
While they do not dismiss imposter syndrome, they begin to look at other factors that were not explored in the 70s by the original creators of the term.
