When Will They Blow My Cover?

Abstract

This study contributes to explaining psychological barriers in female university careers by examining the relation between the impostor phenomenon and research self-efficacy in the university context. The impostor phenomenon refers to people who are objectively competent but feel the opposite and therefore fear being unmasked. So far, there have been no data from German-speaking countries concerning the impostor phenomenon at universities; thus, the impostor phenomenon was examined in a sample of 631 (389 female) Austrian doctoral students. One-third of the sample reported moderate to strong impostor feelings. Female doctoral students both suffer more from impostor feelings and show lower research self-efficacy than male doctoral students do. Furthermore, the impostor phenomenon and research self-efficacy are associated with faculty membership. The most important finding is that the impostor phenomenon is negatively related to research self-efficacy. Research self-efficacy is an important indicator for successful university careers; hence, the impostor phenomenon was shown to be a psychological barrier for female university careers. Implications for support programs for female doctoral students are discussed.

Buffering Impostor Feelings with Kindness: The Mediating Role of Self-compassion between Gender-Role Orientation and the Impostor Phenomenon

“…Academic attrition is theoretically related to the IP, which interferes with academic achievement and hinders academic careers (Topping and Kimmel, 1985; Cozzarelli and Major, 1990; Chrisman et al, 1995; Fried-Buchalter, 1997; Thompson et al, 1998, 2000; Leary et al, 2000; Sonnak and Towell, 2001; Kumar and Jagacinski, 2006; Jöstl et al, 2012; Cokley et al, 2015). Individuals suffering from the IP are high-achievers who have a reduced perception of their abilities and thus feel like they do not deserve their success and are afraid of getting unmasked as unintelligent (Clance, 1985b).…”

“…Individuals suffering from the IP are high-achievers who have a reduced perception of their abilities and thus feel like they do not deserve their success and are afraid of getting unmasked as unintelligent (Clance, 1985b). These feelings of intellectual fraudulence are associated with negative emotional and motivational aspects, and disadvantages in academic contexts (Fried-Buchalter, 1997; Thompson et al, 2000; Kumar and Jagacinski, 2006; McGregor et al, 2008; Jöstl et al, 2012). The IP was highly present in first-year undergraduate students in this study.…”

“…However, empirical findings of gender differences in the IP are equivocal: In college and university students, some studies found that women are more affected by the IP than men (King and Cooley, 1995; Kumar and Jagacinski, 2006; McGregor et al, 2008), while others did not find gender differences (Cowman and Ferrari, 2002; Cokley et al, 2013). In faculty members, Jöstl et al (2012) found higher impostor scores in women, while Topping and Kimmel (1985) found the contrary and Hutchins (2015) found no gender differences. These studies investigated gender differences by simply comparing men and women.…”

“…Moreover, the myth of the ingenious scholar with no need for recreational time aligns to superwoman/supermen aspects experienced by IP sufferers and puts impossible demands on young academics (Macha, 1992). Second, the IP is associated with numerous factors that interfere with academic achievement, such as lower self-esteem (Chrisman et al, 1995; Thompson et al, 1998; Sonnak and Towell, 2001), lower research self-efficacy (Jöstl et al, 2012), lower academic self-concept (Leary et al, 2000; Cokley et al, 2015), lower performance expectancies (Cozzarelli and Major, 1990), and self-perceptions of inadequacy and lack of academic preparedness (Craddock et al, 2011). It is further associated with less favorable achievement goals (Kumar and Jagacinski, 2006) as well as higher depression and anxiety (Bernard et al, 2002; McGregor et al, 2008), higher fear of success (Fried-Buchalter, 1997), and higher fear of failure (Thompson et al, 2000).…”

“…Theoretical considerations suggest negative associations between self-compassion and the IP. Building on equivocal findings of gender differences in the IP (Kumar and Jagacinski, 2006; McGregor et al, 2008; Jöstl et al, 2012), we apply a broader approach and take gender as well as gender-role orientation into account. Empirical research indicates positive associations between feminine gender-role orientation and the IP (September et al, 2001).…”