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I Don’t Have Imposter Syndrome, And One Day You Won’t, Either: a thread 
disclaimer: imposter syndrome is different for everyone. here I’m talking about the imposter syndrome suffered by historically excluded groups in science.
I am a queer, non-binary scientist who suffers from severe, career-afflicting anxiety and depression. I also had a very non-traditional entry into science, as I didn’t consider something I was even able to do until I had graduated high school.
When I was an undergrad, struggling in physics classes that had hundreds of students and were aimed at engineers who had already passed AP physics exams, I had imposter syndrome *bad*. I felt like I should just go back to music all the time.
But I *knew* why I was struggling: because I was 3 semesters behind in math. Because the bar was set at “you should already know this”. And most importantly, because I had no support system.
And so I struggled. And I felt bad. And I failed exams. And no one wanted to study with me because I was AFAB. But I kept it up because I thought that one day, I would catch up on classes and the playing field would finally be level.
I finished undergrad with ok grades and one year of research and I got into exactly 1 grad school. The imposter syndrome was still there. There, I was competing* with privilege white men in a top nuclear physics program while I had just scraped by into an unheard-of astro program
*grades are NOT a competition. privileged white men LOVE to make you feel like they are so that they feel superior but hear me on this: GRADES =\\= RESEARCH SKILLS
But classes don’t go on forever. Once they ended, I had time to focus on what I was good at: research. And I found that the skills that make me a “bad” student made me an excellent researcher:
1. Googling to find the answer
2. Cobbling together an answer from internet sources rather than doing it the “right” way
3. Asking for help when I got stuck
2. Cobbling together an answer from internet sources rather than doing it the “right” way
3. Asking for help when I got stuck
So once I was out of classes, the imposter syndrome began to fade—slowly. As a senior grad student I went beyond my research obligations. I sought out paper ideas on my own. I reached out to a collaborator as at MIT and eventually became a visiting student there. And more.
All of these things helped, because I took value in my accomplishments. Because of my background I knew that none of it had been handed to me. That is one of the keys to defeating imposter syndrome is getting used to the idea that you earned what you did.
The other is to acknowledge that others had a head start. Cishet abled white men HATE it when you do this. A guy who went to a “good” school system, was tutored through the SAT, and landed a spot at an Ivy League doesn’t want you to acknowledge that he was given an advantage.
But it’s true.
so TLDR, the two keys to overcoming imposter syndrome are this:
1. Seeing your accomplishments for what they’re worth
2. Knowing that the people who look like they’re ahead of you are largely only there because they had a head start
Hope this helps!
so TLDR, the two keys to overcoming imposter syndrome are this:
1. Seeing your accomplishments for what they’re worth
2. Knowing that the people who look like they’re ahead of you are largely only there because they had a head start
Hope this helps!
