Jumping Into The Deep: Imposter Syndrome, Defining Success and the New Librarian

Abstract

This article is adapted from a presentation given at the Ontario Library Association Super Conference, held in Toronto, Ontario, February 1-4, 2017. This presentation brought together 80+ participants, ranging from students to early-and mid-career professionals. The goals of this presentation were to recognize and build a shared understanding of how library and information professionals experience imposter syndrome. Through personal experience and research, ideas of imposter syndrome are explored through the lens of new librarians. This discussion included competition in the job market, burnout rates, and social media. Through experience and research, we aimed to share tips and tools for managing and examining imposter syndrome.

Job Precarity, Contract Work, and Self-Care

“…Connected with this is the social isolation for new and contract hires. This is a very real concern within temporary work and for new librarians (Oud 2005(Oud , 2008, and something I experienced throughout my contracts to varying degrees (see Lacey & Parlette-Stewart, 2017). It takes time to make friends in a new location, in and outside of work.…”

Pathways to Becoming an Academic Subject Specialist: Insights from Three Librarians

“…Each of the three librarians touch on the issue of feeling imposter syndrome in their new role. Imposter syndrome has been discussed in the library literature (Clark, Vardeman, & Barba, 2017;Lacey & Parlette-Stewart, 2017) and has been a professional development and conference topic in the past few years. For subject librarians, the reality of being labeled an "expert" by having a discipline listed in the job title can be daunting, especially without a degree in the discipline.…”

New Librarians and the Practice of Everyday Life

“…5 Research focused on the perspective of the new librarian highlights the areas of stress, obstacles, and anxieties faced by new information professionals. 6 These r include the inadequacy of preparation many new librarians feel they received in their LIS education, 7 the financial stress caused by the expense of library school (Dale 2016, 265;Halperin 2018), and the uncertainty of precarious, contract labour that new librarians encounter after graduation (Lacey and Parlette-Stewart 2017). In addition, the difficulty of socialization and adjusting to the culture of a new workplace is outlined as a major problem for new librarians (Oud 2005(Oud , 2008).…”

“…The greater the distance between the two, the more difficulty librarians have in transitioning successfully into new roles and the lower their job satisfaction (Oud 2008, 256). This anxiety is exacerbated by the indifferent approach that many academic libraries take towards new-employee orientation and unclear expectations of new librarian positions (Lacey and Parlette-Stewart 2017). For new librarians, the difficulties of taking on a new role in an uncertain environment and the perpetual state of flux within the profession (Sare, Bales, and Neville 2012) can also result in stress that manifests as mental and physical health problems.…”

“…For new librarians, the difficulties of taking on a new role in an uncertain environment and the perpetual state of flux within the profession (Sare, Bales, and Neville 2012) can also result in stress that manifests as mental and physical health problems. Stress can also result in imposter syndrome (Lacey and Parlette-Stewart 2017) and burnout (Librarian Burnout Blog; UNC Chapel Hill 2018).…”