Gemma McLean-Carr is a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh working on a project about smell, odour, and British perceptions of China and ‘Chinatowns’ (1842-1946). She studied for a BA in History at the University of Lincoln from 2019-2022 and went on to do an MSc in Contemporary History at the University of Edinburgh. This blog post is a lightly edited version of final piece of coursework on the Teaching History module, which she took in the final semester of her undergraduate studies at Lincoln.
2024 Reflection
When I completed this project at the end of my undergraduate studies in May 2022, I had just accepted an offer to begin my postgraduate studies at the University of Edinburgh. Everything suddenly felt very real and overwhelming. My time at Lincoln was ending and COVID-19 had largely taken away my first and second years at university. This project arose from these fears but also the silence about ‘Imposter Syndrome’ that I felt as a first-generation student navigating the tribulations of higher education. Now, as I have begun my PhD, these feelings have not disappeared (rather, if anything, the pressure not to be ‘discovered’ as an imposter has only increased). However, this project allowed me to be more up-front about my struggles and experiences. When I concluded this project in 2022, I suggested that the teaching of history needed to be re-evaluated and questioned, a process I said that the sector was not ready to address. At the time, the results of my project felt quite pessimistic; I felt that Imposter Syndrome was simply part of academic life and there was nothing that could be done about it. Looking back, my attitude towards this topic is not as damning, rather my own experience of Imposter Syndrome has allowed me to question myself and pushed me towards taking opportunities I never thought possible. As I begin to teach undergraduate students next semester, this project will inform my teaching and hopefully continue to make me a better academic, considerate of one of the main hidden struggles present in every aspect of university life.
Introduction
We focus on the moments where we feel that we do not have enough experience; we are just “pretending” to fit in. Yet, we hardly ever reflect on the moments when we are not imposters. Instead, we relentlessly focus on what is next or where gaps in our knowledge exist. (Russell, 2017: 1070)
The quote above reflects my personal experience with Imposter Syndrome. It has been, and presumably will remain, a substantial aspect of my experience in Higher Education as it holds an almost un-bearing weight on all my academic decisions; something which I have only recently come to terms with as I begin to apply for postgraduate programmes. The present research project has arisen because of this and through discussions with peers regarding their feelings of insignificance within Higher Education. The following discussions serve as a relatively personal insight into a condition which affects not only me, but many of my closest peers, and I hope it will provide some insights (and maybe relief) for those suffering from Imposter Syndrome, its symptoms, and consequences.
The term ‘Imposter Syndrome’ originates from Clance and Imes’ landmark study ‘The Imposter Phenomenon in High Achieving Women’ (1978). The article, written by two psychologists, argues that the ‘Imposter Phenomenon’ undermines the ‘ability to negotiate a resilient academic identity and also impedes the growth of a sense of belonging’ (87). This inability to negotiate the culture and language of academia fosters self-doubt and can cause potential difficulties for those attempting to assimilate into this unfamiliar domain (Chapman, 2017: 112).
There is no open dialogue about Imposter Syndrome within the Humanities; research on this topic is heavily biased towards STEM subjects. This research project will mediate such discussions, as my research demonstrates that feelings of Imposter Syndrome are deeply rooted within both lecturers and students of History. The work aims to encourage an environment which eliminates – or at least acknowledges – the stigma surrounding these feelings by bringing them to the forefront of the academic experience – and in turn stresses the direct relationship between the teaching of History and Imposter Syndrome. By questioning whether the way we teach influences how students perceive themselves in the classroom, this research project will bring to light a narrative previously brushed over, tackled solely by wellbeing staff situated outside the discipline, and seemingly confronted only by those ‘obviously’ struggling with their studies.
Literature review
Discussions of Imposter Syndrome have focused on high-achieving women in male-dominated sectors, particularly Engineering and Science. This literature frequently comments upon feelings of deception and guilt as Clance and Imes note most ‘feelings of nervousness relate to the possibility of being uncovered as a fraud’ (Wilkinson, 2020: 367). Amanda Chapman further suggests that constant measures of success (testing, qualifications and competition), serve to ‘compound feelings of fraudulence rather than mitigate them’. She uses the term ‘scaffolded’ unease to outline how sufferers of Imposter Syndrome accumulate their self-doubt over an extended period (Chapman, 2017: 114).
Studies on Imposter Syndrome largely address STEM because these fields are considered to be the most academically strenuous and challenging (a rhetoric increasingly ingrained in all students as ‘dummy’ degrees come under fire by politicians and the media). Gina Abdelall, for example, comments: ‘Imposter Syndrome does not discriminate and anyone may suffer from it – from students to scientists at the top of their academic careers’ (2020: 62), but does not attempt to consider Imposter Syndrome outside of her subject area. Her argument is fascinating in its attempts to re-frame the relationship between Imposter Syndrome and student progression, although it is limited to ‘scientists’, leaving other fields such as the Humanities neglected.
Joel Bothello and Thomas Roulet approach this topic from a Business Management stance, arguing that the very nature of their ‘hyper‐competitive scholarly community’ means that certain characteristics intrinsic to management academia intensify the ‘condition’ of Imposter Syndrome (2019: 854). The interdisciplinary nature of this field (similar to History) ‘produces turf battles with colleagues from neighbouring social sciences’ which exacerbates feelings of Imposter Syndrome. Lack of boundaries allows feelings of uncertainty to take root, fuelled by academic induction ‘rituals’ (both formal and informal) which in themselves serve to fuel feelings of misalignment (857). Despite some literature focusing on Imposter Syndrome in non-STEM subjects, its presence in History has hardly been studied, while its impact on the practice of teaching History is even more neglected.
Aside from accounts reciting personal experiences of Imposter Syndrome, little attention has been paid to how open communication between academics and students may provide relief for those experiencing Imposter Syndrome (and how methods of teaching might be refined to alleviate this pressure). Personal accounts act as a form of autoethnographic pedagogy that directly centre the self within teaching and learning. A form of ‘self-reflexive inquiry’, this method combines ethnography and autobiography to stress understanding through personal narratives, experiences, and observation (Wilkinson, 2020: 364), an approach that is important for my research because I asked respondents to outline the personal contexts and conditions under which feelings of Imposter Syndrome manifested. This generated valuable insights into Imposter Syndrome and, especially, its potential relationship with the teaching of History.
Methodology
To collate data on this subject, I created an anonymous Microsoft Forms survey (consisting of both quantitative and qualitative questions) and disseminated this to staff and students via email and Microsoft Teams. A total of 32 responses was received over the three weeks the survey was open (direct quotations taken from the survey and its results will henceforth be italicised).
Due to both timing and privacy constraints, the survey I produced was anonymous and no demographic data was collected from respondents. I only requested the academic status of respondents (as shown in the graph above) to allow separation of staff and student responses. Additional questions were asked to staff members via branching to assess whether personal experiences with Imposter Syndrome informed their teaching. Only one postgraduate student responded to the survey. A separate study would be needed to analyse this demographic in depth.
Results and analysis
‘The feeling of inferiority that you don’t have the right to be part of a particular group – that you are part of it either due to luck or blagging your way through, and, associated with that, the anxiety that you might be ‘found out’.
The first question in my survey asked ‘What does the term ‘Imposter Syndrome’ mean to you?’ as a baseline question intended to determine respondents’ assumptions concerning the topic. A majority of responses discussed feelings of self-worth being undermined with terms such as ‘fluke’, ‘fraud’, ‘underqualified’ and ‘inadequate’ being repeated. One respondent openly declared their previous ignorance of the term, although this was an isolated case of unawareness: ‘I didn’t know what the term meant till I read the definition above. So I don’t have my own meaning’. Alongside a widespread acknowledgement of Imposter Syndrome, many responses were also framed through anecdotes or personal experiences; respondent 19, for example, references a particular speech by Neil Gaiman which resonated with their own experiences of Imposter Syndrome.
One of the most interesting conclusions drawn from this survey was the clear disparity between prior research into Imposter Syndrome and the results of this study. Whilst Abdelaal argues that it is estimated that 20% of university students suffer from Imposter Syndrome, my results do not reflect this figure, directly contradicting this estimation. Although only five respondents (16%) believed that over 75% of staff and students suffer from Imposter Syndrome, a total of twenty-five respondents (78%) said they had personally experienced these feelings at university level. If we also assume that academics are likely to do well in their studies, lecturers’ experiences of Imposter Syndrome indicate that even students who are thriving in their degrees still struggle with their self-worth at university. This implies that Imposter Syndrome is therefore not limited to one strata of academia but is rather a predominant yet hidden aspect of the Higher education experience of all History students. This raises the broader question of the extent to which the lack of openness in relation to Imposter Syndrome is damaging to students’ self-identity and experience in the discipline.
Imposter syndrome and its impact on teaching
‘Sometimes it makes you “over-act” the part of the academic rather than being a bit more “honest” with the students’.
A particularly neglected aspect of Imposter Syndrome studies is its impact on relationships between staff, students, and on teaching methods. The interpersonal nature of Imposter Syndrome simultaneously influences staff-student interactions and can limit staff belief in their own knowledge and abilities (Brems et al., 1994: 184). This may be attributed to the nature of the PhD experience and hiring processes which ‘inadvertently signal to budding scholars that the merit of academic work is in identifiable results’ rather than in engaging with student cohorts (Bothello and Roulet, 2019: 856).
The data collated in this project mirrors the wider underestimation of Imposter Syndrome when informing both decision-making and teaching at university level; of the seven staff respondents, 57% of them noted that their experiences with Imposter Syndrome had, at one point or another, informed their teaching of History. The self-worth of staff appears to be heavily linked with increasing confidence through experience, and the acknowledgement that one individual cannot be an expert on all topics: ‘In my first years of teaching I massively over-prepared for my teaching and was so worried that students would “find out” that I didn’t really know what I was talking about!’
Reducing Imposter Syndrome
‘Any attempts to reduce “Imposter Syndrome”…would have to be much broader and affect the entire discipline of History globally, Higher Education institutions structurally, and individual human behaviour culturally’.
Some respondents responded pessimistically when asked about methods of reducing Imposter Syndrome: ‘I honestly do not think there is a way to reduce it. It is one of those things that you can keep making excuses for, regardless of reality and logical thinking.’ This mentality can be seen in other responses as respondent 8 suggested ‘It probably can’t, really, because it relates to the simple issue of one knowing all the internal struggles and contradictions that one experiences oneself… Imposter Syndrome is just a fact of life in any high-achieving environment’. Despite this passivity, it must be considered that, although acknowledging the issue of Imposter Syndrome may in itself not ‘cure’ feelings of doubt, it may create an open dialogue concerning such struggles which could in turn support both staff and students.
Diversity and Imposter Syndrome
Respondents suggested several methods for reducing Imposter Syndrome within Higher Education, including increased group work, open discussions, explanation of grades as well as increasing the diversity of topics and source material. One of the survey questions was designed to encourage respondents to consider the issue of diversity.
Although 28% of respondents offered a rating of between 4 and 5 for the above question, the average response was 2.72, with some at least one respondent querying the assertion underlying the question. It must be considered, however, that the data is heavily influenced by the demographic of its respondents. As research conducted by the Royal Historical Society over the past decade has shown (Royal Historical Society, 2015-2022), History has fundamental and ongoing issues with diversity. Research has shown that Imposter Syndrome, alongside the ‘Stereotype Threat,’ underpins anxiety felt by those marginalised in academia, particularly within History, igniting a ‘sense of otherness and propagating the dominant metanarrative’ (Edwards, 2019: 19).* Academics have frequently put forth the view that Imposter Syndrome threatens diversity. To overcome this challenge, Imposter Syndrome, like diversity, inclusivity and decolonisation, must be made visible; discussions at an ‘institutional level should put a name to these feelings and normalize them as common experiences rather than pathologizing them’ (Chrousos and Mentis, 2020: 750).
Concluding remarks
The data collected in this survey suggest that Imposter Syndrome is more prevalent in History in higher education than initially assumed, especially among those often labelled as ‘high-achievers’. Imposter Syndrome affects lecturers, teaching and student mentalities. Despite being a phrase often used colloquially (sometimes almost comedically) amongst academics in Higher Education, it is important to define and understand the term ‘Imposter Syndrome’ more fully. Rather than being framed as an inevitable, hidden aspect of academia, the underlying effects of Imposter Syndrome and its relation to the teaching of History need to be explicitly addressed (Wilkinson, 2020: 380).
Many respondents stressed the usefulness of being able to communicating their struggles with Imposter Syndrome. This is a common theme throughout not only my research but also Imposter Syndrome literature more generally and forms the basis for many of my further recommendations. Reassurance that these feelings are normal and widespread can help to combat an individual’s ‘inability to accurately assess their own competence’ (Abdelaal, 2020: 63). Centrally, the very definition of ‘scholar’ needs to be reconceptualised to normalise setback and failure as an ‘inescapable aspect of human nature’, fundamental for individual and academic growth – this self-development is something that should be an important, and acknowledged, outcome of a university education (Edwards, 2019: 30).
Efforts at recentring Imposter Syndrome cannot solely be an academic venture; a range of support networks are needed too. For students, academic libraries can aid ‘imposters’ by providing a space in which they can renegotiate their self-image, via the provision of support in a scholarly environment (Ramsey and Brown, 2017: 86). Mentorship programmes, particularly peer-support and peer-teaching schemes, and the encouragement of active involvement in volunteer networks surrounding History (the university history societies, the local branch of the Historical Association, etc.) can all help to serve to diminish one’s sense of self-doubt and help to integrate individuals within academia.
There is significant scope for future research on this topic. Extending the sample size of this research would enable future researchers to establish whether the initial results gathered for this project were representative and whether these conclusions can be extended more broadly. Opening up this work beyond History to consider the Humanities more broadly would be another avenue of interest and allow for the more practical application of this research across disciplines. The increasing integration of online learning into Higher Education potentially provides an interesting avenue for further exploration regarding Imposter Syndrome.
Time constraints and the nature of this project did not allow for personal information (such as gender, age, ethnicity, disability etc.) to be gathered but a cross-examination of these demographics could also be noteworthy especially as wider literature is now suggesting Imposter Syndrome to be universal and much more widespread than previously assumed. This research has unveiled a clear issue with the ‘transition’ period between various levels/modes of study, both at undergraduate level and beyond. Particular emphasis on demographics such as gender, ethnicity, etc. are, as mentioned previously, vital for the future progression of this work as universities increasingly strive to address deep-rooted issues of diversity within their institutions, with the potential to go beyond developing students’ self-assurance, but also help to inform restructuring of the university experience.
Reflection (2022)
As I reach the end of my undergraduate studies, I have realised that this project surfaced an aspect of my time at university which I had previously labelled as insignificant. It has not only presented a new narrative of the correlations between teaching History at university level and Imposter Syndrome but has also raised important questions about how the way we teach influences how students perceive themselves in classroom settings. It also indicates that these feelings are somewhat universal, felt by students and academics alike, indicating that open dialogue around the issue of Imposter Syndrome may reduce many of its symptoms and relieve some of the pressure and alienation that these feelings can cause.
* The term ‘Stereotype Threat’ was coined in 1995 by psychologists Claude M. Steele and Joshua Aronson: ‘being at risk of confirming, a self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one’s group’ (797).
Bibliography
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