Vol. 3 No. 7 (Summer 2022)
This post is from the 2022 CWCA/ACCR annual conference virtual poster session. – Stevie Bell and Brian Hotson, 2022 CWCA/ACCR conference co-chairs
By Ashley Kyne, Simon Fraser University
“Am I good enough?” “Do I belong here?” Have these questions ever plagued your mind? Well, you are not alone. Undergraduate students, graduate students, post-docs, and even your professors (yes, they can feel this way too!) are haunted by feelings of inadequacy. However, how did this syndrome come to be? Imposter syndrome is a feeling of self-doubt or incompetence. Despite your accomplishments, imposter syndrome can be described as that little voice in your head that makes you question your self-worth. Imposter syndrome can be attributed to a pattern that causes academics to doubt their success, feel like a fraud, and perceive themselves as failures. So, if you doubt yourself, even when you are doing everything right, are you sentenced to feeling like an imposter forever? No. There are a few things you can do when you feel like imposter syndrome is creeping up behind you. Namely, turning off “negative self-talk TV,” embracing criticism, avoiding comparison, asking for help, and being kind to yourself.