When does a syndrome become a phenomenon? When the world has evolved, but a concept hasn’t? When that concept is over 40 years old and based on biased data? When it focuses on the effect, not the cause? When it becomes clear it’s affecting a specific group of people? All of the above?

Imposter ‘syndrome’ is loosely defined as doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. Many of us have heard of it, just as many have not. A few months ago a friend of mine who is the Head Teacher of a local Primary school was describing how she feels every day she goes into work. I told her it sounded like Imposter Syndrome. She’d never heard of it. When I explained how prevalent it is and how she’s not alone in her experiences it was as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. I’ve seen her since and she’s mentioned it to me more than once - the term has become part of her common vernacular. 

On reflection I’m not sure whether I’ve done her a disservice. By trying to make her feel better about how she feels, I’ve turned her into the victim. I’ve contributed to giving this phenomenon a name that puts the onus squarely on the sufferer. I’ve actively enabled the system which has created this situation to continue unchecked.

The term ‘imposter syndrome’ was coined in 1978. A time when systemic racism, classism, xenophobia and other biases were unrecognised. Many groups were excluded from the research, including women of colour, people with varying income levels, genders and professional backgrounds. In short, the research pool was neither diverse nor inclusive. As I mentioned, imposter syndrome as we know it today puts the responsibility squarely on the sufferer, directing efforts to fix women in the workplace rather than fixing the workplace itself.

Covid-19 has put a microscope on this. A recent McKinsey study has found women in particular have been negatively affected. Women - especially women of colour - are more likely to have been laid off or furloughed during the pandemic. As a result, more than 1 in 4 women are contemplating downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce completely. Companies are faced with a huge unwinding of the progress we’d been creaking towards in creating gender diversity.

This is more acute for women of colour. Already facing more barriers to career advancement than almost any other employees, the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on the black community is really taking its toll. Repeated racial violence and inequality is an added emotional pressure. 

For this group feelings of self doubt and the feeling of not belonging can be even more pronounced. Many across the world have been told implicitly, if not explicitly, they don’t belong in white and male dominated workplaces. Half of the women of colour surveyed by Working Mother Media in the US plan to leave their jobs in the next two years due to feelings of marginalisation or disillusionment. 

Societal ‘standards’ are biased and culturally skewed. When employees from marginalised backgrounds try to meet a standard that no-one like them has met the pressure can be overwhelming. Feelings of self doubt are exacerbated by systemic bias and racism. Culturally we’re stuck.

The answer to ‘curing’ Imposter Phenomenon doesn’t lie with the sufferer - it lies with the system. We need to create diverse and inclusive environments that foster a variety of leadership styles and in which diverse racial, ethnic and gender identities are celebrated as the professional norm.

A recent article in Harvard Business Review talks about how confidence does not equal competence. It highlights how confidence - usually the type associated with white male leaders - is equated to competence and leadership. Employees who don’t conform to this are told they have Imposter Syndrome. Quite rightly this article states:

‘The same systems that reward confidence in male leaders, even if they’re incompetent, punish white women for lacking confidence, women of colour for showing to much of it and all women for demonstrating it in a way that’s deemed unacceptable’. 

It’s time we recognised that Imposter Syndrome isn’t an individual phenomenon, it’s a sad indictment of how far we’ve got to go towards creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. Creating equality in a workplace isn’t about quotas and policies. It’s about ripping up the rule book, changing culture and really, really, wanting to change the way the world works. 

Find out how Together Equal workshops can help you to get that conversation started.