Nineteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

The impostor phenomenon was first identified by Clance and Imes (1978); people who experience the impostor phenomenon often feel that their achievements are not a result of their competence, despite meeting or exceeding external standards. Although the impostor phenomenon is common among academics and researchers, it disproportionately affects women, minorities, and LGBTQ people. Due to STEM’s systemic culture of discrimination, women experience unique communication challenges and stereotypes including uptalk, difficulty speaking up in meetings, interruptions, and unwinnable dichotomy of self-presentation (e.g. women can’t be assertive and humble in the STEM workplace without facing consequences). These communication biases also enhance feelings of being an impostor, while a person’s inner impostor enhances negative communication stereotypes. This paper summarizes the findings from three workshops focused on impostor and communication. The workshops were developed in collaboration with the Alan Alda Center for Science Communication at Stonybrook University. The goals of the workshop were to 1) explore the prevalence of impostor syndrome in STEM, 2) gain a deeper understanding of their own inner impostor and how it might affect their career 3) understand the body of research around bias toward women in STEM, 4) gain valuable skills in communication that foster career advancement and manage their inner impostor. We reviewed examples of bias against female scientists showing up in diversity statements and how an inner impostor impacted the job application materials of a female scientist. We present results of a survey of women participants on their experiences with communication and the impostor phenomenon.