Impostor Syndrome

It is very common for students to feel insecure and that they are simply pretending to be a doctoral student. You may feel that if people really understood how little you know they would not allow you to get a Ph.D.! This feeling actually has a name, the Impostor Syndrome, and it is particularly common in students who are the first in their family to get a doctorate. If you consider it carefully, it makes total sense that you feel this way: you have not known many people socially who have a doctorate and you are, in all likelihood seeing them as smarter than or more creative than you are.

Let us consider if this true. Would you expect a doctoral student to know as much as an accomplished researcher or professor? Of course not, the student is in school to learn. Give the student 20 years and he or she will be as knowledgeable and confident as any other professional is.

You are that doctoral student! You are not expected to know everything at this point. So relax, and take the opportunity to meet other students and doctoral level researchers and get to know them as people. Ask about their families and home lives and you will begin to realize they are similar to other people you know and to you. You have earned your place in your doctoral program; you will gain the necessary experience you need to be successful and graduate! 

Next time, we consider the monster under your bed. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Send me an email with your ideas. leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu