The impostor syndrome and all the women you have become

Now you are dissociating, having an idyllic retrospection while you get lost in your thoughts. The past flourished with plenty of illusions about what to become, like the fig tree of Sylvia Plath. What brought us here? The process between feeling confident about what to become and being just one step away from it seems blurry. You did not get here after a breath, magically.

The confidence in the identity you have built is now wavering: what remains is a fragmented copy of your original self.

You ask if you should remain here, in this place, at this time, and then your voice becomes tremulous. In other words, you feel like an impostor among a group of people who apparently know what they are doing.

Way before you started thinking about it, maybe before you were even born, there were women coining a term for it. American psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes first called it the impostor phenomenon in a paper they wrote in 1978 for the journal “Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice.”

Below is an excerpt from the abstract of the article called "The Imposter Phenomenon in High-Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention."[1]:

“The term "impostor phenomenon" is used to designate an internal experience of intellectual phoniness that appears to be particularly prevalent and intense among a select sample of high-achieving women… Despite outstanding academic and professional accomplishments, women who experience the impostor phenomenon persist in believing that they are really not bright and have fooled anyone who thinks otherwise.”

Clance acknowledged in a later article [2] that impostor syndrome affects not only women but also other genders. There is an extensive list of actors and actresses, Nobel laureates, writers, athletes, scientists, and, in general, so-called successful people who have claimed at least once to feel like an impostor.

On the other hand, recent studies focused on the observation of this phenomenon by gender showcase that there is a bigger tendency for women to experience impostor syndrome [3]; these results may vary depending on professional contexts and geographical locations.

However, it is worth noting that the concept of being an impostor was first coined by women thinking about women. For instance, the “Matilda Effect” [4] is a phenomenon that describes the non-recognition of women’s scientific achievements, named after the sociologist Matilda Gage.

Now imagine you are Rosalind Franklin, an experimental scientist from the 20^th century who has just discovered the real structure of DNA thanks to your grit and an X-ray photograph you revealed. Then two men take the whole credit for your work and win a Nobel Prize. How would you feel inside that lab? What if, after the discovery, you start believing it was just luck? Or that you were only executing orders from your research partners, just trying to find the grounds for that outcome.

The Rosalind Franklin Institute stated what follows in a post about her life and work [5]:

“Determined to pursue an intellectual career from a young age, Franklin excelled at most subjects (except music), and was an exceptionally high-performing student who won numerous prizes, yet – like many young women – often privately lacked confidence in her own abilities, and was particularly apprehensive about examinations.”

Even Rosalind Franklin felt insecure about her knowledge. What we do not know will be infinitely broader than the few things we get to know in the dot our life represents among the infinite plane of existence. Still, impostor syndrome is treacherous when confidence starts to tremble (or at least the one you project). We are what we communicate: human beings rely on human interactions, which are the basis of human life.

If we lack confidence in our actions, then we will not be able to convey our thoughts. You might do it, and you probably might have a change-enactor idea, but if you are not sure, then how can others feel sure about what you are doing?

Call it impostor syndrome, a feeling of insecurity, or self-doubt, past experiences can trigger it. Experiencing gender-based and symbolic violence [6] can lead you to believe it.

Unfortunately, I do not have a cure for feeling like an impostor; staying alive implies a constant struggle for self-awareness. But precisely, awareness seems like a superpower in this matter.

Embracing freedom of thought and recognizing that knowledge has no ends could be key to developing a non-impostor mindset. When we perceive mistakes and failures as outcomes that eventually mold wisdom, then we would not feel like we are faking it, but more like we are in the discovery of the unknown.

Take a moment to think about who you are, your background, your dreams, and your commitment to your community. Who are you representing? How did you start?

When you see your current efforts as the consequence of other efforts, you notice how valuable they are, as are the endeavors of others. Then, if a collective of efforts from diverse contexts makes creation a wonder, why would you be an impostor?

References

[1] Editors of Merriam-Webster, “What is Impostor Syndrome?,” Merriam-Webster. Apr. 29, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/what-is-impostor-syndrome

[2] J. Langford and P. R. Clance, “The imposter phenomenon: Recent research findings regarding dynamics, personality and family patterns and their implications for treatment.,” Psychotherapy, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 495–501, Jan. 1993, doi: 10.1037/0033-3204.30.3.495.

[3] P. C. Price, B. Holcomb, and M. B. Payne, “Gender differences in impostor phenomenon: A meta-analytic review,” Current Research in Behavioral Sciences, vol. 7, p. 100155, Jan. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.crbeha.2024.100155.

[4] R. M. Gorden, “Women* in Science: the Matilda Effect,” University of Klagenfurt, Mar. 07, 2025. Available: https://www.aau.at/en/blog/women-in-science-the-matilda-effect

[5] Rosalind Franklin Institute, “Rosalind Franklin’s Life - Rosalind Franklin Institute,” Rosalind Franklin Institute, Mar. 12, 2025. Available: https://www.rfi.ac.uk/discover-learn/rosalind-franklins-life

[6] United Nations ESCWA, "Glossary: Symbolic Violence,"United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, 2022. Available: https://www.unescwa.org/sd-glossary/symbolic-violence

Links that might be useful:

• E. Cox, What is imposter syndrome and how can you combat it?, TED Education: https://youtu.be/ZQUxL4Jm1Lo?si=ookgLmMhpdWMt7KD

• A. Abramson, How to overcome impostor phenomenon, American Psychological Association:

  https://www.apa.org/monitor/2021/06/cover-impostor-phenomenon

• S. Sunder, Why women in STEM feel imposter syndrome, TEDxMAHE Bengaluru:

  https://youtu.be/6GJdLZlcKZI?si=yGk2jG4E4aIUMCYD