Breaking the bias and imposter feelings

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is ‘Break the bias’. Bias effects us in many forms including gender bias, age bias, bias in relation to neurodiversity, ability bias, cultural bias and the list goes on. We experience overt bias, subtle, systemic and individual and it impacts on our sense of self worth, sense of belonging and self efficacy. Bias is at the core of why so many women, non-binary and gender diverse people experience psychological and emotional difficulty at work and at school. Many do not feel they belong and have not had opportunity to develop self efficacy in workplaces as these workplaces were not really designed with them in mind. Conscious and unconscious bias in the workplace and in educational settings means many people are unable to obtain a sense of belonging.?

Muradoglu et el. (2021) analysed data from over 4000 academics and found a relationship between sense of belonging and self-efficacy that was also related to ‘imposter feelings’. In that study, women from underrepresented cultural groups reported higher ‘imposter feelings’ than other women. The term ‘’imposter feelings’ has been used a lot but is problematic as it suggests that the individual who feels they do not belong or are not good enough has some internal mechanism that needs altering in order to be confident and trust they can achieve. Yet again, the person is the problem to be ‘fixed’ ‘diagnosed’ and ‘treated’ before they can fit comfortably in the world. Well, when we look into the most recent research, we can see direct evidence that actually the context has a great deal to do with the development and maintenance of the so called ‘imposter syndrome’. Underrepresented groups, minority groups, trans women, cis gendered women, non-binary people, those of us with ‘funny’ names that are just “too hard to pronounce”, skin colour, sexuality, accents, those of us who are “less agreeable” or “too outspoken” are more likely to experience not feeling good enough in many and varied workplaces and educational settings. Typically when we find ourselves living or working or studying within a system that was not created by us or people like us, and does not include many like us, we will likely have expectations imposed on us that do not fit our authentic self. ?

Another aspect of bias is that it tends to influence a ‘masking’ or the development of a persona in the workplace as the authentic self is not welcome. As the individual plays a role within the persona, they will inevitably experience moments where they may be found out as a fraud of sorts and therefore the ‘imposter feelings’ may also be activated. The greater the feelings of not belonging, the greater the inauthentic self / persona is encouraged to play out, the less opportunity for success based on the authentic self and therefore self efficacy. Many of my clients who are neurodivergent speak about the neurotypical ways of the workplace that becomes a catalyst for lowered professional self esteem as they are either advised overtly or in subtle ways to ‘conform’. Some easier than others but any changes the individual makes puts them at greater risk of feeling like they do not “really” belong.?

“Not measuring up” “not being good enough” may stem from having something about your character that is ‘different’ or in the minority. It may also stem from trauma (e.g., developmental trauma, interpersonal trauma including workplace trauma). Workplace cultural factors that can lead to not feeling good enough may include having your decisions and opinions being overly questioned and criticised. This type of workplace can turn a usually confident person into someone who doubts their decision making and general abilities. Another example is when there is pressure to conform that leads to a restricted self expression and often steers people off a values-driven course. For the individual, it appears that self-validation, mindfulness and values-based living is a protective factor when belongingness has not yet developed (Miller et al., 2020). ?

Systemic racism, systemic sexism, ageism and disability discrimination continues to exist and continues to have a devastating impact on entire communities. It is up to all workplaces and educational settings to break the bias that exists, to ask questions relating to who actually belongs in this space and how can we deliberately dismantle systemic bias. ?

Jodi-Ann Burey ‘Why you should not bring your authentic self to work’ TedxSeattle: “Its long been the expectation for people like me who have been grossly, often intentionally underrepresented at work to contort ourselves into this caricature of what some call professionalism and what we call a distorted elaboration of white cultural norms and the standards that meet the comforts of those who hold social and institutional power.”?

"Being authentic privileges those in the dominant culture."        

I urge you to reflect on the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day in your professional settings and consider how we can 'Break the bias' so everyone may feel safe and competent at work and in educational settings. ?

-Dr Sonja Skocic, Director of Clinical Programs / Senior Clinical Psychologist?

References

Jodi-Ann Burey ‘Why you should not bring your authentic self to work’ TedxSeattle.?

Miller, A. N., & Orsillo, S. M. (2020). Values, acceptance, and belongingess in graduate school: Perspectives from underrepresented minority students. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 15, 197–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.01.002??

Muradoglu, M., Horne, Z., Hammond, M. D., Leslie, S.-J., & Cimpian, A. (2021). Women—particularly underrepresented minority women—and early-career academics feel like impostors in fields that value brilliance. Journal of Educational Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000669?