4 Ways Companies Can Help Women Combat Imposter Syndrome

I didn’t fully understand the scope of it until I was weeks into my first job.

I was teaching first grade Special Education at a small rural elementary school in Western New York. I felt woefully unprepared for this position. I was feeling like a fraud despite my degrees, qualifications, and years of experience. It didn’t matter. It was September. We were in math class.

As part of an observation, I tracked who my colleague called on the most during our math lesson. I drew a diagram of our class, and put an “X” on each student when my colleague called on them.  

I was absolutely shocked at the results. 

The girls in this math group were incredibly smart. They had already mastered the concept of single-digit addition. Most of them were top of the class in terms of math scores. And yet, 84% of the time, they didn’t even raise their hands. The diagram was filled with X’s, mostly concentrated on the little boys in class who were so eager to answer– even if they were wrong. 

So what is this phenomenon, and why does it seem to affect so many women and girls, even when they are sitting on an alphabet rug just learning how to count?

It starts young

According to the Oxford Languages dictionary, the contemporary definition of imposter syndrome, also called perceived fraudulence, is “the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.” 

The term was originally coined by two psychologists, Drs. Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes, in the late 1970s. 

They had spent years counseling outwardly successful young women– professionals as well as students– who were inwardly terrified of being exposed as a fraud, as if they would somehow be “found out” for being incapable to perform and succeed in their positions.

In their 1978 study, Clance and Imes sought to get to the bottom of this psychological pattern. They studied over 150 high-achieving women, and found that imposter syndrome begins at a very young age. 

Their hypothesis? 

That familial and societal sex-stereotyping, even during the preschool years, shows girls that they are not expected to succeed. As Clance and Imes explain in the study, “The societal stereotype of women being less intellectually able than men exacerbates and confirms the self-doubts that have already begun to develop” (4). 

This means that with any success a woman or girl might actually achieve, she assumes it to be a fluke, or a coincidence, rather than a result of her own talent, skill, and competence. 

Marginalized women are hit the hardest

Women at the intersections of various identities face even starker expectations and biases in society and the workplace, something that was not addressed in the original 1978 study.

The more a Black woman in business might succeed, the more isolated she might feel, and the more bias she may encounter. This is especially because there are fewer and fewer Black role models and peers at each level of seniority, and the idea of “professionalism” is culturally skewed to favor white, straight men. 

Even if she is the highest performing executive in the room, she is likely to be the only Black woman at the table. This can all lead to intense feelings of self-doubt, perceived fraudulence, and negatively impacted mental health for Black women in business.

In their article “Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome,” featured in the Harvard Business Review, authors Ruchika Tulyshan and Jodi-Ann Burey argue that “academic institutions and corporations are mired in the cultural inertia of the ‘good ol’ boys’ clubs and white supremacy. Biased practices across institutions routinely stymie the ability of individuals from underrepresented groups to truly thrive.”

Corporations are breeding grounds for imposter syndrome due to enforced sex-stereotyping, but they can also be breeding grounds for racial stereotyping and racial inequity.

According to recent survey data from Catalyst, only 9% of executive and senior officials in major companies are women of color, and only 4% are CEO’s. This is despite the fact that by 2060, women of color will be the majority of all women in the United States. While these numbers are inching higher in recent years, the executive-level workforce is still overwhelmingly white, and overwhelmingly male. 

The question remains– how do women, especially marginalized women, fight imposter syndrome when it is so steeped in our society and in our work? 

Individual solutions are not the answer

There is no shortage of information on how a person can combat imposter syndrome. 

Much of this advice revolves around personal behavioral changes– do yoga, perform affirmations in the bathroom of the corporate office, read the latest self-help book. And while I’ve tried some of these things, and they are nice ideas, none of them really get to the root issue, to the little girl in math class who won’t raise her hand.

The problem with the self-help approach? It implies that perceived fraudulence is an individual issue, perhaps stemming from low self-esteem or a lack of emotional etiquette in the workplace, rather than looking at it for what it is– a societal bias that enforces a culture of low expectations.

A high-achieving woman can be confident and still feel like an imposter. Low self-esteem results from how you feel about yourself, while imposter syndrome results from how the world has shown it feels about you. There’s a distinction.

Therefore, the onus of responsibility must fall not on “fixing” or pathologizing women as individuals, but rather, on taking a good, critical look at the broader structures that plant the seeds of imposter syndrome in the first place. 

Four company-level solutions

While each individual company is only a fraction of the broader society, there is a lot that a company can do to level the playing field and support women, especially marginalized women.

Ask for feedback, and actually act on it.

Imposter syndrome is not random– there are specific times when women have been conditioned to experience self-doubt. Companies can ask for feedback about when employees, specifically women, might need the most support and encouragement, both interpersonally and structurally. 

Is it during times of transition, perhaps from one job to the next? 

Promotion, when one achieves a higher rank? 

Recognition, when all eyes are on an employee after they have a moment of success? 

Isolation, when one might look around and notice that they are the only woman, person of color, LGBTQ+ person, etcetera in the room? 

It takes more than having a diversity, equity, and inclusion-- or DEI-- initiative for women to feel a sense of belonging. While many of the solutions are structural, such as more equitable hiring practices and working to build an anti-racist corporate environment, the first step is actively listening to your employees.

The second step is making it happen.

Build a culture of high expectation and equitable celebration.

According to the 2020 KPMG Women’s Leadership Summit Report, 29% of women cited that feeling valued and being rewarded fairly is integral to a positive work environment. 

While it is important for women to feel valued by their workplace, companies should strive to go beyond the bare minimum in terms of recognizing and celebrating success.

Equitable celebration means expecting greatness from every employee, and acknowledging them equally when they achieve it– through pay, promotion, opportunity, and by other means (all of which are historically incredibly biased toward men).

It is a just thing for company leadership to have high, healthy expectations of every employee, and I don’t mean pushing women to produce results. 

A company can have high expectations by laying out thoughtful career opportunities and pathways for women in the workplace.

They can also provide equitable opportunities for all employees to succeed. For example, having a set rotation for who leads a team for each project, who presents at board meetings, and who gets to execute their ideas from start to finish.

When a company has high expectations for its employees, it shows that they believe these expectations can be met. They then have the responsibility to provide the necessary structures and supports for every employee to be successful. 

Create a community that models various forms of leadership and success.

Having a supportive performance manager was identified by 47 percent of respondents as the primary workplace factor to help reduce feelings of Imposter Syndrome (KPMG). While a supportive and encouraging manager can be of any gender or race, having role models and mentors who represent you in the workplace is crucial in preventing imposter syndrome. 

Companies should aim to have a diverse team with a wide variety of leadership styles. They should also build a consistent system of mentorship and support, pairing women who are just starting their careers with women who are higher up in the ranks. 

When women thrive in the workplace, they should bring other women along with them– creating pathways for success for women to come.  

Well-structured and well-resourced workplace ERG’s (employee resource groups) are a great way to put this into practice. Sponsoring employees to join larger, external ERG’s and communities meant for women is another way for women to find positive mentors and role models for success. 

Commit to paying it forward, and commit to fighting back.

A healthy, equitable company culture is one that acknowledges its place in society, and seeks to be a positive change.

There are many incredible examples of a corporation using their resources to fight for change.

One such example is Google’s Impact Challenge for Women and Girls, which allocates millions of grant dollars to programs that fight for gender equality across the globe. These grants and resources give nonprofits and community organizers the support they need to do their work in empowering young women and girls. 

Companies can begin their own initiatives, or partner with organizations that are doing the work on the ground. They can also encourage workplace initiatives such as a mentor-match program, speaking opportunities for women, volunteer and charity days, and education programs for local women and girls.

All in all, imposter syndrome is a cultural problem that needs a culture-level solution.

So let’s stop trying to fix ourselves and start trying to fix our communities. 

There’s a little girl in math class who will someday thank us for it.