Seasonal WIS

BANISHING THE ‘IMPOSTER’University of Warwick

Women in Science Network

8th December 2014

AGENDA

What is imposter syndrome?

Signs of imposter syndrome

Banishing it

Close

Lunch

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

WHAT IS IMPOSTER SYNDROME?

“Even though they are often very successful by

external standards, they feel their success has been

due to some mysterious fluke or luck or great

effort; they are afraid their achievements are due

to “breaks” and not the result of their own ability

and competence. They are also pretty certain that,

unless they go to gargantuan efforts to do so,

success can not be repeated. They are afraid that

next time, I will blow it.”

Dr. Pauline Rose Clance

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

SUCCESS IS DUE TO…

Luck

Being in the right place at the right time

Knowing the right people

the task

The contribution of others

Low expectations

A mistake

Charm and the ability to relate well to others

Effort

Their ability being overestimated

…any more?

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

AS OPPOSED TO…

Skill

Ability

Intelligence

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

WHICH LEADS TO…

Holding back

Over working

Giving up

Procrastination

Taking criticism too personally

Qualifying contributions

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

SIGNS OF IMPOSTER SYNDROME

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

SIGNS OF IMPOSTER SYNDROME

Self-doubt

Sense of incompetence

Comparing yourself to others

Low self-esteem

Fear

Stress

Under-performance

Difficulty accepting praise/compliments

Inability to enjoy your accomplishments

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER FROM IMPOSTER SYNDROME IF YOU ARE …

new to your role

the ‘bright one’

the ‘sensitive one’

a minority in your field

a perfectionist

an introvert

a high achiever

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

SHARING OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

Discussion

What are your

experiences of

Imposter Syndrome?

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

TALK ABOUT YOURSELF Exercise

“So, what do

you do?”

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

EXERCISE

Talk about yourself…

Who you are

What you do/have done

Why you do it/why you love it

Include at least one of…

Your accomplishments

Your skills

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

VOLUNTEERS Talk to the wider group

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

FEEDBACK & DISCUSSION

Any comments for the presenters?

How did it feel to talk about yourself?

How did you feel about others talking about themselves?

What did you notice about the language used?

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

BANISH THE IMPOSTER Tips to banish the imposter

when it rears it’s ugly head

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

TIPS TO HELP BANISH THE IMPOSTER

Recognise the ‘imposter’

Talk about the ‘imposter’

Watch your language!

Learn to accept a compliment

Ask questions

Challenge the criticism

Recognise your accomplishments

Remember you are AWESOME!

…any others?

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

RECOGNISE THE SUPERHERO Homework!

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

USEFUL LINKS Impostor phenomenon

http://www.paulineroseclance.com/impostor_phenomenon.html

Overcome the Imposter Syndrome, Dr. Valarie Youngwww.impostorsyndrome.com

The Language Power of Female Leadership, Dr. Judith Baxterhttp://www.inpowerwomen.com/language-power-of-female-leadership/

Women: Enough With The Apologies!http://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2013/02/26/women-enough-with-the-apologies/

Do you have imposter syndrome?http://thehairpin.com/2014/11/one-big-question-do-you-have-impostor-syndrome

Why I’m Glad I Was Forced to Braghttps://medium.com/female-entrepreneurs-of-the-world/why-im-glad-i-was-forced-to-brag-253e6d7bd10a

The Ada Initiativehttp://adainitiative.org/

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome, Denise Paoluccihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZg9rax-ky4

15 Minute Writing Exercise Closes The Gender Gap In Physicshttp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/11/25/15-minute-writing-exercise-closes-the-gender-gap-in-university-level-physics/#.VHc9bDGsUYm

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

Seasonal WIS

JOIN THE CONVERSATION…WIS@Warwick.ac.uk

@WarwickWIS

Thank you…

We welcome your feedback, comments and ideas for

future events. Or why not get involved?

All the best,

Carolyn, Nicola & Claire

University of Warwick Women in Science Network

www.Warwick.ac.uk/WomenInScience

WRITING VALUES

This 15 minute exercise was developed by Leigh Honeywell from the Ada Initiative to tackle stereotype threat and imposter syndrome.

https://github.com/hypatia/virtuoso

This exercise has been used successfully in classrooms to reduce the achievement gap between minority students and their peers; black students in American high schools and female PhD physics students at the University of Colorado.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/11/25/15-minute-writing-exercise-closes-the-gender-gap-in-university-level-physics/#.VHc9bDGsUYm

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

EXERCISE 1

Accomplishment Accountability Achievement Activism Adventure Affection Ambition Autonomy

Challenge Close relationships Commitment Community Compassion Competence Competition

Confidence Conformity Control Coolness under fire Cooperation Courage Creativity Credibility

Decisiveness Economic security Effectiveness Efficiency Enthusiasm Environmentalism Excellence

Excitement Fairness Faith Fame Free time Freedom Friendships Growth Having a family Health

Helping other people Helping society Honesty Hospitality Independence Influence Inner harmony

Insight Inspiration Integrity Intellectual status Introspection Justice Knowledge Leadership Location

Loyalty Meaningful work Mentorship Merit Money Movement Music Nature Openness Order

Patriotism Peace Persistence Personal development Physical challenge Pleasure Power and authority

Privacy Public service Purity Quality Recognition Reputation Responsibility Romance Security Self-

knowledge Self-reliance Self-respect Serenity Sophistication Spirituality Stability Status Tranquillity

Truth Vibrancy Volunteering Wealth Will-power Wisdom

When you think of the times in your life where you’ve been the happiest, the proudest,

or the most satisfied, which of the following values come to mind?

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

EXERCISE 2

Pick one value from the previous exercise and write a couple of sentences about why it is important to you

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

EXERCISE 3

In general, I try to live up to the values that I chose in the previous two exercises:

Disagree 1 ----- 2 ----- 3 ----- 4 ----- 5 Agree

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE

EXERCISE 4

What was the last topic that someone asked for your advice on?

SLIDES BY CLAIRE WHITE, WARWICK WOMEN IN SCIENCE