Academic Challenges: Imposter Syndrome

From the student level to tenured faculty, academia poses a vast set of challenges.  Al-Diwan brings you a collection of articles and perspectives that touch upon one problem within academia. This week's focus is on imposter syndrome. 

The Imposter Syndrome, or, as my Mother told me: “Just Because Everyone Else is an Asshole, it Doesn’t Make you a Fraud”
By Phyllis Rippeyoung (The Professor is In)

Even with a full CV, Rippeyoung still experiences the slumps of imposter syndrome. In this guest post for The Professor is In, she goes through the same thought processes many academics find themselves on as they try to talk themselves out of feelings of inadequacy.

Never a Fraud: Combating Imposter Syndrome
By CathyCat (Tenure, She Wrote)

Providing a brief outline of imposter syndrome’s history, the author reiterates its prevalence today. Yet, she also writes that while these thoughts of non-belonging constantly spin in the heads of many academics, one cannot forget that “we are smart, diligent, and deserving.”

Feeling like Impostors
By Jeremy Bauer-Wolf (Inside Higher Ed)

A study from the University of Texas-Austin pointed to imposter syndrome as an additional factor that contributes to higher rates of depression and anxiety amongst minority college students.

Tenured Professor Rogers Talks About: Imposter Syndrome
By Casey Fiesler (Medium)

Folding in the advice Mr. Rogers wrote in his book, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember, Fiesler writes a short narrative about imposter syndrome in academia and the struggle to believe our own worth and our research’s worth.

Hard to Believe, But We Belong Here: A Reflection on Impostor Syndrome
By Caroline Blyth, John Tregoning, Susan D’Agostino, Merlin Crossley, Katarzyna Kaczmarska, and Darren L. Linvill (Times Higher Education)

In a collection of essays, readers have the opportunity to see how imposter syndrome has impacted the lives and careers of faculty across disciplines.

Euphoria Laced with Dread
By Freeden Blume Oeur (Creativo)

How does the imposter syndrome manifest itself after publishing a book? This is the question Blume Oeur answers in this blog post, which he wrote two weeks after his book, Black Boys Apart came out.

Being Imperfect in Perfect Academia
By Angélique Cramer (Models and Methods for Clinical Psychology)

Listening to The Black Goat’s podcast episode on imposter syndrome, Cramer takes the time to reflect on “why this imposter syndrome may be particularly pervasive in academia.”