Supporting Graduate Students with Imposter Syndrome

Most typically, graduate students are conscientious. This is a productive trait. Yet, conscientiousness can be close to anxiety and perfectionism. Those are unproductive traits. Being humble and driven to improve are productive traits. Yet, holding constant feelings of self-doubt and fear of being exposed as a fraud are unproductive traits. Imposter syndrome is a stubborn and common issue that impedes progress, removes joy, isolates, and often leads to habits that are counter-productive to effective learning.

What can a supervisor do to support a graduate student or trainee who is in the grip of imposter syndrome? Many professionals feel like imposters well into the late stages of successful careers as psychologists or professors. Elimination of imposter syndrome may not be possible for many people, but there are approaches to supporting students and trainees so that they can manage this potentially debilitating issue.

The Problem

Imposter syndrome is more than survivor’s guilt or minor emotional discomfort. Depression and anxiety disorders commonly co-occur or exacerbate imposter syndrome. Even at low levels, graduate students who continuously believe they are not good enough and fraudulent can result in avoiding opportunities and challenges, fear submitting work for review, participate in team projects, and fail to initiate for fear of being judged or found out.

Academia and graduate school are breeding grounds for imposter syndrome because there are so many myths, unwritten rules, and general opacity of academic culture. The perceived expectation is that graduate students are super geniuses, everyone comes to academia knowing everything, and the most successful researchers are lone brilliant scientists; but some people in graduate school are not “Ph.D. material.” There is also a lack of transparency in research methods, publishing processes, deciding authorship of projects, building a reputation, and making connections that make academia appear mystical. The gates to success appear to be guarded and only a chosen few are admitted. There are also the uphill prejudices and aggressions faced by those who are different from the keepers of the gates in gender, ethnicity, background, socioeconomic status, nation of birth, first language, and other factors not related to science. Imposter syndrome is nearly inevitable in this environment.

Ineffective Communication

Research supervisors and mentors want to help. Yet, there are many well-meaning, but ineffective, statements when working with someone with imposter syndrome:

Everyone feels that way. This is likely true, but imposter syndrome does not care.

It will go away soon. Maybe, but that does not help now.

You are good enough. No matter how many times this is said or how heartfelt, the person with imposter syndrome believes that the speaker is being fooled, being superficially nice, or being manipulative.

You got this or You can do it. Maybe, but some students believe that even if they succeed it will be entirely due to luck.

You could seek therapy or try a support group. These are ways of saying, "Not my problem. Go handle the problem on your own." They also assume that imposter syndrome is a pathology rather than an adaptive response to a challenging environment. Therapy might help, but is often not a helpful suggestion to convey.

More Effective Remedies

There are no easy answers or solutions. Yet, creating a culture of learning, growth, and encouragement minimizes the effects of imposter syndrome. The key is to show, not tell.

Scientific Transparency. One of the little-talked-about results of the open science movement is to reduce the mystical aspects of research. Formerly, a study is developed, the experiment is conducted, and data are magically analyzed and reported. Only a high-level science mage can conjure such an outcome and everyone else must be mediocre or an imposter. Being completely open about procedures, protocols, methods, and analyses allows participation and understanding of how every decision is made.

Researcher Transparency. Allow students to see your first drafts. Even the messy ones. Own and take responsibility for errors. Share rejections. Help students understand the effort, difficulty, and energy that every publication requires. When students only see publications and successful outcomes, they start to believe that anything less than apparently easy and effortless success is a sign that they are not worthy.

Imposter Syndrome Essential Reads

Can You Have Imposter Syndrome about Age?

What People Get Wrong About Imposter Syndrome

Create a Cooperative Team. There is always going to be a little competition among graduate students. But providing incentives for teamwork and a culture of cooperation allows for a strong learning environment.

Responsibilities and Trust. Giving research responsibilities to graduate students is an explicit vote of trust. For example, "That’s a great idea. Let’s dedicate resources to investigate this issue. Tell me what you need to make it work. You lead the project."

Teams. Teach and model how to run project teams. This is a form of responsibility and trust. Also, the best way to learn is to teach.

Mentorship and the Unwritten Rules. There are unwritten rules in academia. There are also a lot of imagined unwritten rules that do not really exist. Imposter syndrome makes students susceptible to rumors, myths, and gossip. A key to mentorship is to have clear discussions of expectations, make unwritten rules explicit, and provide the skills required to navigate the maze of academia. Knowing that there is a mentor who will listen, teach the unwritten rules, and dispel myths and rumors is a major form of support for students with imposter syndrome.

The Little Phrases. Students are sensitive and pay attention to the phrases that comprise a culture. "These are not my students, they are my colleagues." "Not mentees, but research partners." "You are not researching under me, you are researching with me." "I could explain this concept, but my research partner is in charge and can explain it better." "That didn’t go well, I wasn’t clear, so let’s try again."

Conclusions

Imposter syndrome is real and limits the performance and well-being of many graduate students. Words of encouragement are not enough. Creating a culture that supports students and trainees does not cure imposter syndrome, but provides opportunities for well-being and success.