Impostor syndrome—the feeling that, regardless of your accomplishments, you’re still about to be unmasked as a fraud—is an all-too-common affliction among academics. Ironically, it’s the successful who tend to suffer from it: In order to feel like you’re faking it, you need to have already reached a certain level in your discipline. Think of it as a twisted version of the Socratic paradox—the more you know, the more you feel like you know nothing.
… While both men and women experience impostor syndrome, women are far more susceptible. Given the messages of inadequacy that many women have internalized throughout their lives, it’s hardly surprising that many of us are wondering if we can hack it.
… What’s alarming is that the more education and professional skills women acquire, the less confident we seem to feel.
… studies have shown that women generally apply only to those jobs for which they’re totally qualified, whereas men tend to have no compunction about applying if they meet some, but not all, of a job’s requirements. Women are less likely to tout their own research and more likely to be saddled with excessive service commitments than men are, too.