By Bayla Rothschild, Staff Writer
For quite some time, women have been encouraged to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. Data from the US Department of Labor shows that in 1970 only 7% of workers in the US in STEM fields were women which increased to 23% in 1990, 26% in 2010, and 27% in 2024. This shows a significant increase over the past number of years. Yet, a recent study shows that an incredible majority of women pursuing graduate degrees in these fields have imposter syndrome today.
People with imposter syndrome find themselves feeling undeserving of their own accomplishments despite others thinking highly of them. It comes with a fear of being discovered as a fraud.
Last year, Binghamton University conducted a study in which researchers surveyed a large and diverse group of women across the United States who were all pursuing graduate degrees in STEM subjects. The group contained women who were in differing years of graduate school and in varied subjects of academic programs. The questions asked revealed information about things like the participants’ level of imposterism, mental health, burnout and academic achievements.
The results showed that 97.5% of the women surveyed experienced at least moderate levels of imposterism, with 26.3% displaying intense levels. This data is particularly interesting when put into conversation with other research done on imposter syndrome in graduate students across various disciplines. The results of one such study showed the existence of high levels of imposter syndrome among graduate students across all fields, but did not find differences between men and women. On the other hand, another study found that women in Harvard’s medical and dental schools had higher levels of imposter syndrome than men in the same environment. Together, these studies place the original finding in context by showing that while imposter syndrome is widespread among all graduate students, the especially high rates observed among women may reflect either a broader, field-independent trend or gender-specific dynamics that vary by environment.
In the study at Binghamton University, the extreme imposter syndrome found in female graduate students in STEM fields correlated with poor mental health, burnout and increased thoughts of dropping out of the student’s academic program. On the other hand, imposter syndrome did not seem to connect to lower academic achievements. One theory as to why this occurred is that imposter syndrome tends to only affect high-achieving people, even though they have succeeded in the past. Therefore, these are the people who are still likely to work hard even with imposteristic thoughts.
The research explains that the causes of imposter syndrome among women in STEM could likely be due to negative experiences in STEM environments or being told that women do not have the innate abilities needed to succeed in STEM. This can show up in classroom dynamics, bias in group assignments and internships or a lack of representation in the field. When students repeatedly have such experiences, there is more of a chance that they will begin to believe that they do not belong in such an environment, thereby potentially starting a cycle of imposter syndrome. Over time, these feelings can become self-reinforcing. When students succeed, they may attribute their accomplishments to luck rather than ability, while any setbacks are taken as confirmation of their perceived inadequacy. This pattern can make it increasingly difficult to build confidence, even in the face of clear academic success.
This study exemplifies the extreme importance of supporting women pursuing careers in STEM in order for them to truly succeed, not only academically but also mentally, so that they can become the professionals that they hope to be. If this issue is not addressed, then we risk losing women who would have otherwise pursued advanced research, leadership and innovation roles in STEM. This would have broad consequences, as varying perspectives are essential in STEM fields to ask the questions and design the solutions that can work for a wide range of people. Addressing imposter syndrome is not only about individuals’ well-being, but it also concerns the strength and inclusivity of the scientific enterprise itself.
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