Intellectual distinction and imposter syndrome.

?Ever felt like you're not quite measuring up in the academic world? Well, if that's the case, you might just be grappling with what psychologists like to call "imposter syndrome." It's quite a paradox – even the most accomplished and widely published academics can find themselves tangled in its clutches. But interestingly, imposter syndrome tends to hit hardest those who were historically excluded from academia; women, racialised minorities, and working-class people, men and women.

Imposter syndrome is a complex phenomenon, with roots in various factors, but perhaps the most glaring one is the relentless influence of stereotypes that slowly penetrate your psyche; for those who are negatively stereotyped as not being ‘bright’, ‘intelligent’, ‘clever’, ‘gifted’ etc will end up being most afflicted by imposter syndrome. When you're repeatedly told, both overtly and covertly, that whatever you do, you will never be as good as white, middle-class men, it's no wonder you start believing it.?

And for those entering academia that have had to endure lifelong symbolic violence associated with negative stereotyping, significant achievements can become undermined by a secret fear that someone will eventually uncover your supposed fraudulence. This cocktail of emotions brews up a potent sense of inadequacy and self-doubt. And even when you do achieve something, the achievement can feel tarnished, as if you didn't truly earn it!

Beyond societal stereotyping, the imposter syndrome can also find its roots in familial pressures to achieve perfection – a pressure that can strike anyone, regardless of their background, particularly those high-achieving folks in academia. In this sense, imposter syndrome can be understood as a deeply ingrained psychological struggle whose roots can be found in the very walls of one's childhood home where the pursuit of excellence is heralded as the ultimate goal. Parents, well-intentioned as they may be, often project their aspirations onto their children, unwittingly casting them as the protagonists in an unending narrative of high expectations. The desire to make one's family proud becomes a driving force, yet it's accompanied by an unrelenting fear of falling short of these lofty ambitions.

While most imposter syndrome discussions focus on those grappling with it, it's worth pondering about those who sail through without feeling any sense of being a phoney. What exactly do they carry within themselves that provides immunity from imposter syndrome? If imposter syndrome silences its victims, the flip side is true for certain white middle-class men who seem to revel in self-promotion. These 'high achievers' have been groomed from an early age to believe in their magnificence, which leads them to brazenly appropriate others' work and flaunt their intellectual prowess.

However, let's be real here – terms like 'distinction' and 'intelligence' are essentially hollow in academia, mere pawns in the chess game of superiority and inferiority. As Bourdieu argued in his seminal work, "Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste," being 'distinguished' is all about social and cultural capital. Bourdieu explores how social class and cultural capital influence individual judgments, both of self, others and academic production more generally. Bourdieu argues that people's aesthetic choices are shaped by their social background and that cultural consumption serves as a marker of social distinction. In this regard, one can think of imposter syndrome as a product of the ways in which cultural preferences reinforce and reproduce social inequalities within society. In practical terms, intellectual distinction becomes understood as a mechanism of validation by the 'right people' in 'prestigious circles'. Consequently, if you're not well-connected, your valuable contributions might go unnoticed, while mediocrity garners accolades solely due to the right connections.

But don't be fooled – this obsession with 'distinction' isn't confined to academia. It's a pervasive attitude across society, part of a grand scheme to perpetuate privilege among a select 'elite.' Just take a look at the seemingly picture-perfect British Royal Family, and you'll see a prime example of this charade. So, despite academia's efforts to drape itself in the cloak of inclusivity and decolonization, the underbelly of patronage, nepotism, and elitism still thrives. In the grand scheme of things, the struggle against imposter syndrome is a mere skirmish in the larger war against a culture fixated on hollow 'distinction.' And tragically, speaking from over 30 years of experience in academia, it is the deep-rooted myth of white male middle-class supremacy that retains a potency that determines academic 'success'.