9 Dealing with impostor phenomenon

Many faculty members, TAs, and students report encountering impostor phenomenon, feelings of self-doubt about their achievements and abilities and fears of being exposed as a “fraud.” This sense of doubt can discourage people from fully experiencing teaching and learning and make individuals feel like they do not belong in an academic environment. Social identity and power dynamics can impact impostor phenomenon. Studies report that 70% of the general public experience impostor phenomenon (Sakulku & Alexander, 2011), and the percentage significantly increases in university environments.

If you find yourself experiencing imposter phenomenon, here are some recommendations (Tsylina Williams, 2020):

• Share your experience with colleagues and peers informally. Normalizing impostor phenomenon and acknowledging its systemic nature in academia can be immensely helpful.
• Seek mentorship and support from your department and campus resources, like the Center for Teaching, and request consistent feedback on your performance to recognize your strengths.
• Practice improvising to become more comfortable with speaking extemporaneously and rehearse acting confidently.
• Review your experience and achievements from a reflective teaching perspective and document your progress. Make sure to shift the language of your self-talk to focus on effort and achievement, not luck or other external factors.
• Accept that some tasks will not be done perfectly and practice growth mindset, understanding that our abilities are not fixed and can be developed through dedication and hard work. Your students expect you to have advanced knowledge and expertise, but this does not mean that they expect you to know every answer to every question immediately.

💡 Please reflect:

If you experience impostor phenomenon, try to identify an experience triggering it. Write a letter to your past self, using strategies to mitigate impostor feelings (such as focusing on your strengths, cultivating a growth mindset, shifting from attributing successes to luck or coincidence). Reevaluate your experience, reflecting on how it helped you gain specific skills and understanding. Give yourself guidance on how you might act in this situation in the future.