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Do you feel you're just winging it, waiting for the day when your incompetence is exposed? The six academics here show that you're far from alone
'While impostor syndrome can be frustrating to live with, it might also be a blessing in disguise
As a long-time sufferer of impostor syndrome, I have learned it can be both a curse and a blessing. Over the years, it has held my professional self-esteem in a perpetual headlock, convincing me that I'm not a "real" academic.
Particularly in my early career, I passed up a number of research and writing challenges, certain that they would only reveal my ineptitude. I have sat silently through conferences, departmental meetings and even academic social events, feeling like the proverbial fish out of water. I still read and reread every article and chapter I write, wondering if the words on the page even make sense. Despite the publications, the promotions and the positive reviews, I have never been able to shake off the sense that, within the hallowed halls of the academy, I simply don't belong.
Impostor syndrome is hard to live with, and it can take its toll, professionally and personally. Even knowing that many of my talented colleagues are fellow sufferers offers little consolation. I have often tried to pinpoint its causes, but have never quite succeeded. Certainly, I'm aware that gender, ethnicity and class can play a significant role - our identities often impact on the welcome (or lack of welcome) we receive around academia's very white, middle-class and male high table.
Who we are, where we are from, what communities we belong to - all these factors determine how often our voices are heard and how seriously our research is taken. This, in turn, shapes our own self-perceptions. I feel like an interloper in academia every time a male colleague talks over me in a meeting or a conference panel chair tells me I have a "funny" accent (I'm a Scot living in New Zealand). And while I work in an institution that takes staff equity seriously, significant structural inequalities remain ingrained in academia - both locally and globally - which make so many of us feel like trespassers.
Yet while impostor syndrome can be a deeply frustrating...