Confidence Crisis
Maria Klawe
(Professor, Harvey Mudd College)
Esin Saka
(PhD. student, University of Louisville)
Maria Klawe
Esin Saka
• PhD Student under advising of Dr. Olfa Nasraoui
– Knowledge Discovery & Web Mining Lab in the Department of
Computer Engineering and Computer Science at University of
Louisville.
• BS and MS degrees in computer engineering and
mathematics (double major)
– From the Middle East Technical University (METU), in Turkey
• Worked for:
– Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey
(TÜBİTAK)
– METU
– Yahoo!
• Also enjoys snowboarding, ballroom and social dancing,
SCUBA diving, surfing, and traveling
Confidence
• Confidence : belief in oneself and
one’s power or abilities
• Losing confidence: No longer
trusting in the ability to perform
Who can have a
confidence crisis?
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Manager of a big company
Graduate Student
Advisor
Man/Women with high self-esteem
You
Anybody!
How
When
Where
Why
Confidence Crisis
?
Qualification Exams:
Am I nothing?
"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com
Feel like your research is
pointless or insignificant?
"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com
A Paper Marked All RED
"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com
A Bad
Haircut
Causes of Confidence Crisis
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Having difficulty in courses
Failing exams
Missing a deadline
Faux Pas
A crush on someone or a break up
Harsh/hard to satisfy advisor’s high expectations
Insignificant research
A bad haircut
…
What to do? NOT
• Chocolate
• Snacks
• Martini
• Watch out for people around who may want to lower
your confidence to forget their confidence problem
Admit the problem
"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com
Define reachable goals
"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com
Be Patient
"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com
Celebrate every
accomplishment no
matter how small ;)
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Grab a chocolate
Go out and have fun
Have a nice walk
Try a relaxing bath with
body scrub
• Have a nice lunch/dinner
• …
You’re the Dancing Queen
"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com
Peers can Help to
LIFT Our Morale
Series of Actions -1
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Keep a journal
Show gratitude
Evaluate your relationships
Start new relationships
Get into a good group
Change your behavior
Speak up
Take a risk a day
Series of Actions - 2
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Recall past highs
Believe your creativity is ready and waiting
Start with small projects
A little each day
Acknowledge your progress
• Work
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+ “Good time management” …
Work harder…
And harder…
It does pay off in the end!
Hard work  better results  (publish paper) 
better confidence (eventually)
Positive Feedback Cycle
Basically:
• Think positive
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– Did the world crash and are you left under the
ruins? NO
Take responsibility for your actions
Identify the problem(s)
Start doing stuff that you are good at
Celebrate success
– Define success in your own words
• excerpt on next slide
• Be with positive and supporting people
"My mother drew a distinction between
achievement and success.
She said that achievement is the knowledge
that you have worked hard and done the best
that is in you.
Success is being praised by others ... Always
aim for achievement and forget about
success."
-
Helen Hayes, Actress
From http://women.cs.cmu.edu/What/Outreach/
References
• http://homeparents.about.com/od/ho
mebusprofiles/a/bus_confidence.htm
• http://www.howtodothings.com/hobbi
es/how-to-recover-from-a-crash-increative-confidence
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confide
nce
Picture References
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http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/jlv/lowre
s/jlvn663l.jpg
http://www.futureleaderofamerica.com/images/confidence.gif
http://www.simplenomics.com/wp-images/confidence.jpg
http://bp0.blogger.com/_kT9yRiEqelE/RxTIPQTlmGI/AAAAAAA
ACj4/8fW923gLP24/s1600-h/celebrate+high+self+esteem.jpg
http://www.mrdowling.com/images/702cleopatra.jpg
http://www.plumbingworld.com/images/alliedbrass-mirror-dm4.jpg
http://onhutchinsonisland.com/files/2007/10/bad_haircut.jpg
http://www.hunterlab.com/images/industry/asst_snacks.jpg
http://groovymartini.com/images/rasberry%20martini.jpg
http://www.mitoledo.com/Donaire/Fotos/Chocolate.png