Women and youth feel ‘impostors’ in some academic disciplines – Revista Galileu

Feeling like an “impersonator” is common in many areas of work, but what about the academic environment? New article published in the magazine Journal of Educational Psychology He sought this answer and concluded that this feeling occurs more intensely among women, undergraduates, and postdoctoral fellows.

The work analyzed questionnaires answered by more than 4,000 people from nine universities in United State Where research is a strong activity. From the natural and social sciences, through the humanities and even Medicine, perceptions of professors, postdoctoral fellows, medical residents and the students Degrees representing more than 80 fields of study.

In this sense, it was possible to assess the experiences the participants actually had with feelings of inadequacy (“I fear sometimes that others will discover my lack of Knowledge or ability,” for example) and gather information about the importance given to brilliance in each field (“Personally, I think being a great academic at discipline It requires a special skill that cannot be taught.”).

The researchers found that the more a region required fluorescence or talent Pure to succeed, more women and early youth Professional life, such as graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, claim to feel like they are being scammed. “Many high-ranking individuals feel incompetent, despite evidence of their competence and success,” he notes, in the note, Andre Symbian, one of the authors of the article and a professor in the Department of Psychology at New York University.

This type of outcome is widely observed among women belonging to racial and ethnic groups that have traditionally been underrepresented in University education, as African Americans, Latinas, residents of Alaska, Hawaii and other Pacific islands, as well as people whose roots go back to the indigenous peoples of America. “It is possible that these women have stronger feelings of imposter syndrome because their intellect is being attacked before Stereotypes Gender, Race, and Negative Ethnicity,” assesses researcher Melis Mouradoglu.

In addition, the study found that regardless of differences in genderprofessional stage, education and race, people who feel cheated also report less affiliation with their discipline (because of attachment and acceptance colleagues) and less confidence in an individual’s ability to succeed in the future – illustrating how impostor syndrome can limit professional development.

Our article shows that the emergence of these feelings More appropriate in certain contexts (those where brilliance is emphasized), so you need to join forces to think about how education Higher education can create environments in which all academics feel they can SuccessCimpian highlights.