Imposter syndrome: Is it internalised misogyny holding women back?
I am certain I am not the only woman who has an internal voice that makes her doubt herself in situations of importance; an internal voice that questions the validity of her decisions, immensity of her skillset and challenges her sense of belonging. A therapist once advised me to give this voice a silly name, since it says such silly things. The voice appears to me as male, so I called it Bob. Int he past, the voice has also appeared to sound a lot like former managers who reinforced messages of worthlessness, and has made me query the relationship between ‘imposter syndrome’ and internalised misogyny. Imposter syndrome certainly seems to be a condition women experience as social identity threat whenever they venture into spaces where women have been historically excluded. Let’s interrogate!
A KPMG survey of 750 women leaders in Fortune 1000 companies found that 75% had experienced imposter syndrome in their careers, manifesting as feelings of crippling self-doubt, inadequacy and anxiety about their qualifications to perform the role. Women may also feel a lack of belonging when assuming roles that were traditionally performed by men, which can invoke a sense of precarity about their position and may leave them vulnerable to being undermined by workplace misogyny.
As a woman in engineering, I know I am not alone in my experiences. A study by Hall et al. (2015) discovered that women engineers reported greater levels of mental exhaustion and social identity threat on days they had conversations with male engineers (but not female colleagues) which “cued feelings of incompetence and a lack of acceptance.” Women remain a minority in the engineering profession (approximately 84% of engineers are male) and women leave engineering at a higher rate than any other STEM profession.
Individuals experience social identity threat when they are treated negatively or feel rejected by a social group they identify with. Our sense of belonging to social groups in which we seek membership is critical to our mental and physical wellbeing. Human beings are biologically wired to seek social connection as a protection mechanism and rejection from the group, historically, would be a threat to the individual’s survival. It remains a trigger for a biological stress response even in modern day.
Women who work in male-dominated industries are particularly exposed to daily sexism and those voices do get inside our head if we give them authority. Women have been shown to internalise the sexism and misogyny they experience from men who feel threatened by women entering traditionally male spaces. Women may express internalised misogyny by minimising the value of women and distrusting women, but this applies to not just other women - themselves, too. These socialised beliefs and implicit stereotypes about women form unconscious biases that present as barriers to women’s participation at the corporate leadership level.
There are many varied benefits women bring to the workplace, evidenced by research, from which companies profit. Implementation of gender quotas to reduce unconscious bias has been shown to be effective, and despite the negative discourse surrounding quotas, the research shows gender quotas improve not only diversity but also financial performance. Women not only belong in the corporate world; they make it better.
Addressing imposter syndrome first requires recognising that women are not imposters. In fact, we need people with diverse backgrounds in all areas of social life as it decreases the opportunity for corruption of power and provides everybody with the right to live - since we must work to buy even our most basic human necessities. In that case, any person showing up and doing their best can never actually be an imposter. Don’t listen to that critical voice – you belong, as we all do. Those intrusive voices are composed of feelings of social identity threat and are often imitations of the sexist projections of individuals in the social environment.
Ultimately, the crux of imposter syndrome lies in the feeling of not belonging, and of not being ‘good enough’, so we must remind ourselves of the unique value, voice and experience we bring to any situation. We all have a place on this planet, find yours and take up space. For women working in traditionally male spaces, strengthen your sense of belonging by connecting with women in other fields, or joining a women’s group for additional support. And finally, give that voice a silly name since it says such silly things.
