Intersecting Journeys: A Duoethnography Of Imposter Phenomenon Among Women In Higher Education And The Workplace

This duoethnographic study explores how the impostor phenomenon is experienced and understood by five researchers through the lens of intersectionality, identity development, and belonging. Using Rubenson’s contextual framework, situational, institutional, dispositional, and relational, alongside an added cultural dimension, the study examines how power, marginalization, and systemic inequalities shape internalized feelings of fraudulence. The findings illustrate that impostorism is not merely a psychological issue, but one embedded within structural and cultural contexts. Belonging, therefore, emerges not only as a personal aspiration but as a collective need shaped by systemic forces. This study contributes to a growing body of scholarship that reframes impostor phenomenon as a socio-structural experience, underscoring the importance of community, self-awareness, and critical inquiry in resisting internalized oppression and advancing equity in higher education and the workplace.