Seasonal WIS
BANISHING THE ‘IMPOSTER’
University of Warwick
Women in Science Network
8th December 2014
AGENDA
 What is imposter syndrome?
 Signs of imposter syndrome
 Banishing it
 Close
 Lunch
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
“Even though they are often very successful by
external standards, they feel their success has been
due to some mysterious fluke or luck or great
effort; they are afraid their achievements are due
to “breaks” and not the result of their own ability
and competence. They are also pretty certain that,
unless they go to gargantuan efforts to do so,
success can not be repeated. They are afraid that
next time, I will blow it.”
Dr. Pauline Rose Clance
WHAT IS IMPOSTER
SYNDROME?
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
SUCCESS IS DUE TO…

Luck

Being in the right place at the right time

Knowing the right people

the task

The contribution of others

Low expectations

A mistake

Charm and the ability to relate well to others

Effort

Their ability being overestimated

…any more?
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
AS OPPOSED TO…
 Skill
 Ability
 Intelligence
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
WHICH LEADS TO…
 Holding back
 Over working
 Giving up
 Procrastination
 Taking criticism too personally
 Qualifying contributions
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
SIGNS OF IMPOSTER
SYNDROME
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
SIGNS OF IMPOSTER SYNDROME
 Self-doubt
 Sense of incompetence
 Comparing yourself to others
 Low self-esteem
 Fear
 Stress
 Under-performance
 Difficulty accepting praise/compliments
 Inability to enjoy your accomplishments
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER FROM
IMPOSTER SYNDROME IF YOU ARE …
 new to your role
 the ‘bright one’
 the ‘sensitive one’
 a minority in your field
 a perfectionist
 an introvert
 a high achiever
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
What are your
experiences of
Imposter Syndrome?
SHARING OUR PERSONAL
EXPERIENCES
Discussion
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
“So, what do
you do?”
TALK ABOUT YOURSELF
Exercise
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
EXERCISE
Talk about yourself…
 Who you are
 What you do/have done
 Why you do it/why you love it
Include at least one of…
 Your accomplishments
 Your skills
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
VOLUNTEERS
Talk to the wider group
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
FEEDBACK & DISCUSSION
 Any comments for the presenters?
 How did it feel to talk about yourself?
 How did you feel about others talking about themselves?
 What did you notice about the language used?
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
BANISH THE IMPOSTER
Tips to banish the imposter
when it rears it’s ugly head
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
TIPS TO HELP BANISH THE IMPOSTER
 Recognise the ‘imposter’
 Talk about the ‘imposter’
 Watch your language!
 Learn to accept a compliment
 Ask questions
 Challenge the criticism
 Recognise your accomplishments
 Remember you are AWESOME!
 …any others?
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
RECOGNISE THE SUPERHERO
Homework!
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
USEFUL LINKS

Impostor phenomenon
http://www.paulineroseclance.com/impostor_phenomenon.html

Overcome the Imposter Syndrome, Dr. Valarie Young
www.impostorsyndrome.com

The Language Power of Female Leadership, Dr. Judith Baxter
http://www.inpowerwomen.com/language-power-of-female-leadership/

Women: Enough With The Apologies!
http://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2013/02/26/women-enough-with-the-apologies/

Do you have imposter syndrome?
http://thehairpin.com/2014/11/one-big-question-do-you-have-impostor-syndrome

Why I’m Glad I Was Forced to Brag
https://medium.com/female-entrepreneurs-of-the-world/why-im-glad-i-was-forced-to-brag253e6d7bd10a

The Ada Initiative
http://adainitiative.org/

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome, Denise Paolucci
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZg9rax-ky4

15 Minute Writing Exercise Closes The Gender Gap In Physics
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/11/25/15-minute-writing-exercise-closesthe-gender-gap-in-university-level-physics/#.VHc9bDGsUYm
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
Thank you…
We welcome your feedback, comments and ideas for
future events. Or why not get involved?
All the best,
Carolyn, Nicola & Claire
University of Warwick Women in Science Network
www.Warwick.ac.uk/WomenInScience
Seasonal WIS
JOIN THE CONVERSATION…
WIS@Warwick.ac.uk
@WarwickWIS
WRITING VALUES
This 15 minute exercise was developed by Leigh Honeywell from the
Ada Initiative to tackle stereotype threat and imposter syndrome.
https://github.com/hypatia/virtuoso
This exercise has been used successfully in classrooms to reduce the
achievement gap between minority students and their peers; black
students in American high schools and female PhD physics students at
the University of Colorado.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/11/25/15-minute-writing-exercise-closes-the-gendergap-in-university-level-physics/#.VHc9bDGsUYm
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
EXERCISE 1
When you think of the times in your life where you’ve been the happiest, the proudest,
or the most satisfied, which of the following values come to mind?
Accomplishment Accountability Achievement Activism Adventure Affection Ambition Autonomy
Challenge Close relationships Commitment Community Compassion Competence Competition
Confidence Conformity Control Coolness under fire Cooperation Courage Creativity Credibility
Decisiveness Economic security Effectiveness Efficiency Enthusiasm Environmentalism Excellence
Excitement Fairness Faith Fame Free time Freedom Friendships Growth Having a family Health
Helping other people Helping society Honesty Hospitality Independence Influence Inner harmony
Insight Inspiration Integrity Intellectual status Introspection Justice Knowledge Leadership Location
Loyalty Meaningful work Mentorship Merit Money Movement Music Nature Openness Order
Patriotism Peace Persistence Personal development Physical challenge Pleasure Power and authority
Privacy Public service Purity Quality Recognition Reputation Responsibility Romance Security Selfknowledge Self-reliance Self-respect Serenity Sophistication Spirituality Stability Status Tranquillity
Truth Vibrancy Volunteering Wealth Will-power Wisdom
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
EXERCISE 2
Pick one value from the previous exercise and write a couple of
sentences about why it is important to you
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
EXERCISE 3
In general, I try to live up to the values that I chose in the previous two
exercises:
Disagree 1 ----- 2 ----- 3 ----- 4 ----- 5 Agree
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE
EXERCISE 4
What was the last topic that someone asked for your advice on?
SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE