Re:Impostoritis: A Lifelong, but Treatable, Condition
by hadees on Monday March 24, 2014 @12:19PM
(#7459081)
I don't think it's just a woman's issue. I've struggled with this myself until recently when I got 3 out of the 4 jobs I applied to a couple weeks after getting laid off.
Re:Impostoritis: A Lifelong, but Treatable, Condition
by gcb0 on Monday March 24, 2014 @12:27PM
(#7459142)
Yep. impostor syndrome never was associated with gender. She just picked the low hanging fruit.
Impostor syndrome applies to everyone who still lacks close friends in a particular social occasion. So it's very common on all steam folks since most have social anxiety, hence take a long time to make close friends.
Re:Impostoritis: A Lifelong, but Treatable, Condition
by Frostine on Monday March 24, 2014 @01:01PM
(#7459402)
Perhaps more attention should be given to the fact that men feel this way as well. Women are often told they don't fare as well because they are not as assertive or confident as men. Imposteritis then introduces feelings of guilt in women for not feeling confident like they are "supposed" to and the way they are told that men do. Whether men feel that way or not should perhaps be addressed more frequently.
Re:Impostoritis: A Lifelong, but Treatable, Condition
by Patrick_Devine on Monday March 24, 2014 @12:31PM
(#7459166)
I agree, and I think it's related to the Dunning Kruger effect. The more you know, the more you realize all the things which you don't know.
There's also a bit of a vicious feedback loop; often people are unwilling to admit that they don't know something because they don't want to appear weak. But until they admit it, they'll always be deficient in that subject.
Re:Impostoritis: A Lifelong, but Treatable, Condition
by zwieback on Monday March 24, 2014 @02:01PM
(#7459981)
Probably the nature of the work - it's easier to feel like an impostor if success is primarily defined by detailed knowledge of the field. I suspect that in the business field you can't succeed unless you're comfortable portraying incomplete or speculative information as fact. Just guessing, though.
Re:Impostoritis: A Lifelong, but Treatable, Condition
by cryoshon on Monday March 24, 2014 @03:19PM
(#7460681)
Part of working in science is knowing that you only know a tiny sliver of your field. It's easy to get the idea that everyone else knows vastly more than you do.
Re:Impostoritis: A Lifelong, but Treatable, Condition
by gcb0 on Monday March 24, 2014 @12:24PM
(#7459120)
Her department would get more varied backgrounds if she did her job and improved teaching and update the curriculum instead of doing the campus therapist job.
All the smart people, whatever the gender, are probably applying elsewhere.
Impostor syndrome applies to everyone who still lacks close friends in a particular social occasion. So it's very common on all steam folks since most have social anxiety, hence take a long time to make close friends.
There's also a bit of a vicious feedback loop; often people are unwilling to admit that they don't know something because they don't want to appear weak. But until they admit it, they'll always be deficient in that subject.
All the smart people, whatever the gender, are probably applying elsewhere.