Fact Sheet Recognizing and Overcoming Impostor Syndrome - National ...
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Fact Sheet
Recognizing and Overcoming Impostor Syndrome
Impostor syndrome—a psychological phenomenon, rather than a diagnosable disorder—has been
described as the persistent perception of “intellectual phoniness” or incompetence despite evidence
to the contrary (Clance & Imes, 1978, p. 1). Those who experience impostor syndrome are likely to
demonstrate a pattern in behavior through which they question their intelligence, explain their
successes as a function of external rather than internal factors, adhere to perceived in- and out-group
expectations for themselves, and focus on the lack of representation of people like them (e.g., same
gender or racial identity) in their educational setting or workplace (Stone et al., 2018). In many
instances, individuals experiencing impostor syndrome are high achievers who view themselves in
overly negative ways (Leary et al., 2000). A salient dimension of impostor syndrome is the
individual’s fear that their abilities and accomplishments will be exposed to be inadequate or
fraudulent given their perception that they do not deserve the success they have achieved (e.g.,
Cokley et al., 2013).
Research suggests that a number of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and societal factors intersect to
initiate and sustain impostor syndrome. Intrapersonal factors such as low self-esteem (Lige et al.,
2017; Schubert & Bowker, 2019), low ethnic identity (Peteet et al., 2015), and low psychological
well-being (Peteet et al., 2015) may correspond with vulnerabilities for experiencing impostor
syndrome. Moreover, lived experiences related to stigma and discrimination may contribute to the
experience of impostorhood (Bernard et al., 2017; 2018; Cokley et al., 2015). Generally speaking,
individuals are thought to be at increased risk for experiencing impostor syndrome when situated in
systems of power and privilege through which they have been minoritized, marginalized, or
otherwise disadvantaged by societal forces.
Although first identified in White, female professionals (Clance & Imes, 1978), impostor syndrome
affects individuals of varying demographic characteristics (e.g., Tigranyan et al., 2020) but continues
to be most prevalent among women (e.g., McGregor et al., 2008), people of color (e.g., Cokley et al.,
2013, 2015), and first-generation college students (e.g., Peteet et al., 2015). Additionally, individuals
amid professional transitions, such as graduate students and early career professionals, are also
thought to be particularly at risk for experiencing impostor syndrome (e.g., Lige et al., 2017).
This crisis of confidence poses significant risk to individuals’ social, emotional, and behavioral
wellness (e.g., Bernard et al., 2017). For school psychologists—in training, impostor syndrome may
add stress to graduate preparation and lead to students avoiding important learning opportunities.
For early career school psychologists, impostor syndrome may reduce job satisfaction (Hutchins et
al., 2017) as well as add further emotional labor to an already taxing role (Weaver & Allen, 2017) in a
profession marked by high levels of burnout (Schilling et al., 2018). Ultimately, impostor syndrome
may lead to diminished self-care, compromised service delivery, students discontinuing their studies,
and professionals leaving the field at various career stages.
Fact Sheet 1
A resource from the National Association of School Psychologists │ www.nasponline.org │ 301-657-0270Re cog niz i ng a nd Ov erc om in g Im pos tor Synd ro me
To both (a) promote individual-level wellness and success and (b) address the critical shortages in
school psychology—particularly in recruiting and retaining practitioners from racially and ethnically
minoritized backgrounds (National Association of School Psychologists, 2016), the field of school
psychology must prioritize efforts to prevent, recognize, and respond to impostor syndrome in
effective and scalable ways. This fact sheet provides guidance for graduate students, early career
professionals, their advisors, and their supervisors related to recognizing impostor syndrome and
acting to prevent and mitigate impostor syndrome at both the individual and system levels. This fact
sheet may also be useful to school psychologists at any career stage when transitioning to a new
position or taking on new responsibilities in an existing role.
SPOTTING IT: RECOGNIZING SIGNS OF IMPOSTOR SYNDROME
Impostor syndrome may manifest in various ways for different people, but certain behavioral
patterns tend to reliably indicate that impostor syndrome is at play (Schubert & Bowker, 2019;
Tigranyan et al., 2020). Those experiencing impostor syndrome may:
• engage in private or overt negative self-talk;
• communicate distrust of their own perspectives or abilities;
• minimize their own accomplishments or fail to celebrate successes;
• compare their accomplishments to those from more established professionals;
• attribute their successes to external factors (e.g., others’ efforts);
• display perfectionist tendencies or work excessively on tasks;
• struggle to say “no” to additional tasks or responsibilities;
• frequently compare themselves to others;
• express feelings of inadequacy or isolation;
• ruminate on past challenges and anticipated future challenges;
• avoid opportunities for which they perceive being unqualified;
• avoid situations in which their differences from other group members (e.g., related to race,
ethnicity, gender identity, socioeconomic status) may be highlighted.
It is important to recognize these behavioral and situational indicators in yourself and others (e.g.,
colleagues, supervisees). The presence of multiple indicators suggests that impostor syndrome may
be negatively impacting the individual and their work, and that addressing feelings of impostorhood
may be crucial to their wellness and professional growth.
OWNING IT: PREVENTING, MANAGING, AND OVERCOMING IMPOSTOR
SYNDROME
Depending on the root causes, maintaining factors, and underlying contexts of the individual’s
unique experience of impostor syndrome, various approaches may be taken to prevent, manage, and
overcome impostor syndrome, and these approaches may prove to be differentially beneficial. The
Fact Sheet 2
A resource from the National Association of School Psychologists │ www.nasponline.org │ 301-657-0270Re cog niz i ng a nd Ov erc om in g Im pos tor Synd ro me
following strategies are offered as a starting point for conceptualizing opportunities for impostor
syndrome prevention and intervention.
What can I do for myself?
• Prioritize self-care. As either a preventive or remedial approach, examine and improve your
self-care routines. Start with the basics: Learn more about the importance of self-care as part of
your ethical responsibility. Then, evaluate your work routines, your work–life balance, and your
current self-care activities. Schedule into your everyday routines more activities that refuel and
sustain you. If applicable, make a plan to kick any harmful habits to the curb.
• Identify and address maladaptive thought patterns. The next time you find yourself
doubting your abilities, attributing your successes to external factors, or concluding you need to
prove yourself to others, try one of the following:
“Catch, check, and change” your thought by catching the maladaptive thought (e.g., “I was
probably only offered the position because there were few other candidates”), checking its
accuracy (e.g., “Actually, I’m pretty well qualified for this position, and I rocked that
interview!”), and then changing the thought to be more accurate or helpful (e.g., “I earned
this position, and I can be proud of that”).
“Stop, step back, and observe” your thoughts, and recognize them as only that—thoughts.
Try changing your relationships with your thoughts by labeling them (e.g., “I’m having the
thought that I’m not qualified for this position”) and remembering that your thoughts are not
necessarily a reality, but rather your interpretation of events at just one moment in time.
• Nurture self-compassion. Revisit the expectations you hold for yourself and consider how
realistic, helpful, and sustainable they are. Allow yourself to recognize the various ways that your
actions lead to your successes, and be kind to yourself when things do not go as planned.
• Remember that you are not alone. This point is double-edged: (a) You are not alone in
experiencing impostor syndrome (Others can feel this way, too!), and (b) You do not need to be
alone in addressing your impostor syndrome (Others can help!). Connect with trusted others
(e.g., peers, advisors, supervisors) to discuss your experiences and learn how others are managing
their own impostor syndrome symptoms.
• Advocate for systems change. Are there aspects of your graduate school or workplace
environment that are contributing to your feelings of impostorhood? Let your voice be heard.
Learn more about strategies for professional and social justice advocacy, and consider how you
might collaborate with others in your setting to make an impact.
What can I do as an advisor or supervisor?
• Normalize feelings of impostorhood. Feelings of discomfort in novel contexts are common
and often situationally appropriate: They can prepare us to make our best effort and increase our
likelihood of being successful. But those feelings can linger for prolonged periods and interfere
with activities of daily living if left unchecked. Help your mentees understand how prevalent
impostor syndrome symptoms can be and how taking action now to manage these feelings
could go a long way.
Fact Sheet 3
A resource from the National Association of School Psychologists │ www.nasponline.org │ 301-657-0270Re cog niz i ng a nd Ov erc om in g Im pos tor Synd ro me
• Emphasize a developmental approach to professional growth. Explain to your mentee
what your expectations for them are with relation to their developmental status (e.g., early
fieldwork student, advanced trainee, early career professional). Describe how their practical
experiences will build off one another to prepare them for increasingly independent practice in
different realms. Remind your mentee they are on a professional journey that will span their career.
• Prompt and model self-care and self-compassion. Stress the importance of self-care and
self-compassion to your mentee, in relation to managing impostor syndrome, specifically, but
also in relation to the best practices associated with being a school psychologist, more broadly.
In your everyday interactions with your mentee, build in opportunities to prompt self-care (e.g.,
holding your mentee accountable for developing and maintaining work–life balance) and self-
compassion (e.g., encouraging your mentee to identify a job well done). Additionally, consider
how you, personally, are practicing self-care and self-compassion (or not) in ways that are
observable to your mentee.
• Structure opportunities for self-reflection and feedback. In your advising, supervision, or
consultation with your mentee, embed opportunities for your mentee to reflect on their own
growth and successes and for you to provide feedback on their development and performance.
Use these opportunities to identify and challenge any unrealistic expectations or unhelpful
perceptions held by your mentee as well as to provide encouragement and acknowledgment of
their efforts and progress.
• Establish systems of mentorship and support. Evaluate what types of mentorship and
support are available to your mentee in your setting. In the absence of adequate existing
opportunities, establish systems to connect novice trainees or early career professionals with
peers or advanced trainees/professionals, either within or beyond your setting. Specifically
attend to the representation of individuals with various identities and from various backgrounds
in your mentorship system, and explore with your mentee the possibility of connecting them
with a mentor who shares a dimension of their lived experience (e.g., Black, English language
learner, first-generation college student).
• Increase the inclusion of underrepresented groups in the setting. On an ongoing basis,
evaluate your workplace’s inclusion of individuals from various demographic groups and with
various lived experiences, especially in positions of authority and leadership. Do individuals with
identities or backgrounds that have been historically minoritized by society have a seat at the
table? Consider ways of partnering with colleagues to advance recruitment and retention
initiatives to increase your workplace’s diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Build and maintain an accepting, supportive, antidiscriminatory organizational climate.
For generations, societal systems of power and privilege have established and advanced stigma
and discrimination based, for example, on individuals’ race, national origin, expressed gender,
sexual orientation, and religion. Organizations can play important roles in taking antiracist,
equity-focused action and cultivating supportive climates to enable all school psychologists and
school psychologists –in training to feel as though they belong and can make meaningful
contributions to our field. Consider how you can and do contribute to this climate, as well as
how you can contribute to reforming unsupportive climates and sustaining supportive ones.
• Build collaboration instead of competition. Especially in high achieving settings (e.g.,
academia) showing graduate students and early career professionals how to build collaborative
teams rather than competing with other individuals can be really helpful.
Fact Sheet 4
A resource from the National Association of School Psychologists │ www.nasponline.org │ 301-657-0270Re cog niz i ng a nd Ov erc om in g Im pos tor Synd ro me
CONCLUSION
Impostor syndrome is a psychological phenomenon for which graduate students and early career
school psychologists are at risk, especially if they belong to a racially, linguistically, or
socioeconomically minoritized group. When left unaddressed, impostor syndrome may threaten the
well-being and satisfaction of school psychologists and school psychologists –in training. In
addition, impostor syndrome may halt our progress as a field in relation to the recruitment and
retention of professionals from racially and ethnically minoritized backgrounds. It is imperative for
trainees, early career professionals, and their mentors to (a) recognize indicators of impostor
syndrome and (b) implement individual- and systems-focused strategies to prevent and manage
impostor syndrome.
REFERENCES
Bernard, D. L., Hoggard, L. S., & Neblett, E. W., Jr. (2018). Racial discrimination, racial identity, and
impostor phenomenon: A profile approach. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 24,
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Bernard, D. L., Lige, Q. M., Willis, H. A., Sosoo, E. E., & Neblett, E. W. (2017). Impostor
phenomenon and mental health: The influence of racial discrimination and gender. Journal of
Counseling Psychology, 64, 155–166. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000197
Clance, P. R., & Imes, S. A. (1978). The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics
and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 15, 241–247.
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Cokley, K., Awad, G., Smith, L., Jackson, S., Awosgba, O., Hurst, A., Stone, S., Blondeau, L., &
Roberts, D. (2015). The roles of gender stigma consciousness, impostor phenomenon, and
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0516-7
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minority status stress and impostor feelings on the mental health of diverse ethnic minority
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imposter phenomenon, stress coping, and job outcomes. Human Resource Development Quarterly,
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Fact Sheet 5
A resource from the National Association of School Psychologists │ www.nasponline.org │ 301-657-0270Re cog niz i ng a nd Ov erc om in g Im pos tor Synd ro me
Schilling, E. J., Randolph, M., & Boan-Lenzo, C. (2018). Job burnout in school psychology: How big
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(2018). Learning while Black: A culturally informed model of the impostor phenomenon for
Black graduate students. Journal of Black Psychology, 44, 491–531.
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Weaver, A. D., & Allen, J. A. (2017). Emotional labor and the work of school psychologists.
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Fact Sheet 6
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