Impostor Phenomenon and Identity Development in Female Doctoral Students in Elite Engineering Programs

The Impostor Phenomenon refers to feelings of fraudulence and inadequacy that people experience even in the face of evidence of their talents and achievements. These impostor feelings are common among PhD students, and particularly so in women in male-dominated disciplines. This project aims to understand when and why the impostor feelings develop in this population and how these feelings affect their sense of identity. It explores the lived experiences of 9 female PhD students in male-dominated engineering degrees at an elite STEM university via individual, semi-structured interviews. The data showed that the following themes help explain the development of the Impostor Phenomenon: the family pressure during childhood, wanting to please parents and comparisons with siblings; the societal expectations of women and their role in society, which are affected by their culture; the social conditioning women are subjected to in the patriarchy, which affects their attribution processes and their self-efficacy; comparing themselves to their peers in a highly competitive setting; the pressure derived from the elite nature of the university and the lack of esteem and respect they experience as women in a still sexist environment, both of which negatively affects their sense of identity. The Impostor Phenomenon affects the participants' identity as an engineer and as an expert in their discipline, leading them to exclude themselves from opportunities for feeling underqualified. Recommendations for teachers, supervisors and institutions are made to minimise the impact of the Impostor Phenomenon.