By Margaret Crable — 2021
What do you do when your biggest doubter is yourself?
Read on news.usc.edu
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We’ve all heard the fake it till you make it a phenomenon. Like every student. A person with imposter syndrome can have all the training in the world with the finest degrees, and still not believe they have the right for people to recognize their accomplishments.
“Students from low-income backgrounds receive daily reminders—interpersonal and institutional, symbolic and structural—that they are the ones who do not belong.”
Today in my interactions with college students and young scientists in training, I’m often struck by the limits that they are placing on their own potential by comparing their achievements to those of others.
Imposter syndrome, alongside alcoholism and chronic insomnia, is one of the experiences key to the morbid trinity of student life; the quirks forming the foundation of every post on every university confessions page.
Impostor syndrome is not a unique feeling, but some researchers believe it hits minority groups harder.
“Do you ever have feelings of self-doubt, that you’re not good enough or that you don’t belong?” we asked students in our Student Opinion question inspired by Smarter Living’s guide on “How to Overcome ‘Impostor Syndrome.’”
For the longest time, Christy Pichichero says she thought she was plagued with imposter syndrome, you know, that feeling that you don’t belong, that you don’t quite deserve your success. But this past year, she took a step back and coined a whole new phrase for what she’s been experiencing.
I realize now that no matter how much I “accomplish” or the goals I achieve, I still second-guess myself; I struggle to feel fulfilled.
As increasing numbers of first-generation college students flock to campuses this fall, “GMA” spoke to experts and first-generation college students who shared advice on how to overcome “impostor syndrome” and succeed.
Many faculty and students report experiencing Impostor Phenomenon, or feelings of self-doubt about their accomplishments and abilities, at some point in their academic careers.