Imposter Syndrome or Systemic Oppression? Why the Answer is Both—And What Leaders Must Do About It

In a conversation this week someone asked, “Is it imposter syndrome, or is it systemic oppression?”

The answer is YES. That question is also the answer to why, as someone who works on culture change in science and technology workforces, I’ve been spending so much time talking and learning about imposter syndrome.

We know that when people in a workforce are focused on protecting themselves - from discrimination, bullies, current or past trauma, etc - the whole business suffers.

People become:

Less willing to contribute

Less innovative

Less engaged

And:

More absent

More anxious

More likely to quit

All the same are true for imposter syndrome.

We need to keep talking about the imposter phenomenon AND systems of oppression. The two are intimately connected.

When we create workplaces where people feel like they are frauds, are only there because of a stroke of luck, and that they’re about to lose their jobs when the company/boss/colleagues figure it all out.. their work, their mental health, and our bottom lines suffer.

We need to keep talking about the imposter phenomenon AND systems of oppression. The two are intimately connected.

As we create workplaces where people feel engaged and valued for who they are, profits, retention, and innovation increase.

But to do that we need to take a hard look at the environment: pay equity, rates of promotion, diversity of people in leadership roles, psychological safety.

I help my clients understand how both systemic oppression and imposter syndrome impact themselves and their teams so that we can start to break it all down and rebuild more innovative, healthy, and productive workplaces.