Imposter Syndrome how to empower women to be authentic

Have you ever found yourself doubting your achievements and skills, or feeling like a fraud in a professional setting? Imposter syndrome is a phenomenon that can undermine the confidence of anyone when not checked. Defined as a psychological occurrence in which people doubt their personal skills, talents or accomplishments, people who experience imposter syndrome also report having a persistent internalised fear of being exposed as a fraud.

Imposter syndrome can have a real and significant impact on a person’s ability to succeed in and out of the workplace. Anxiety, insecurity, and self-doubt lead many to feel they are not worthy of promotions, having their opinions heard or taking on new challenges, which can result in career stagnation and employees feeling dmotivated.

As International Women’s Day approaches, we explore the workplace factors which can contribute to feelings of imposter syndrome and how these affect women more specifically, so that steps can be taken to create more supportive environments to help employees overcome it and achieve greater personal and professional success. 

The burden of Imposter Syndrome

Women have been on the receiving end of cultural pressure to meet certain standards of perfection for all too long. Traditional concepts of modesty and gender roles have taught generations of women that they should be modest about their accomplishments or behave in certain ways in order to garner favour and achieve success. This has in turn influenced many women to doubt their abilities and worth in certain environments.

When we think specifically about the world of work, it is clear that non-inclusive workplace cultures further exacerbate these feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt. Research conducted by KPMG in 2023 showed that 75% of women in executive roles report having experienced imposter syndrome at certain points in their career and 81% believe they put more pressure on themselves to not fail than men do.

While cultural factors are mostly related to gender stereotypes that have been reinforced by society over many decades and require a more structural change, there are practices seen day-to-day in workplaces across the country which contribute, sometime inadvertently, to perpetuating imposter syndrome:

1. Underrepresentation:

Seeing people who look like ourselves, and have similar backgrounds, helps us imagine our own potential. A lack of diverse female leaders within a company may impact the self-belief of female executives and lead them to question if they belong in certain teams or are qualified for leadership positions.

2. Not being rewarded fairly:

The continued prevalence of pay gaps between men and women makes female colleagues doubt they are qualified enough (despite their education and experience) and can lead them to think they need to work harder to prove themselves.

3. Microaggressions:

Sexist comments like ‘women are not good at maths’ and ‘female leaders are too emotional’ impact women’s confidence to ask questions or speak up.

4. No wellbeing support:

With all the above, not having a supportive manager or programmes that will help women look after their physical and mental health, negatively affects how they handle issues like stress, burnout and anxiety. It can also further entrench feelings of anxiety as they don’t know who to turn to or seek support from.

5. Lack of clear development programmes:

When facing imposter syndrome, women tend to hide themselves as soon as they start to believe they are a fraud. This scenario, when combined with a lack of growth opportunities, can dissuade women from pursuing higher positions.

Is your workplace culture an enabler or a blocker?

Once we understand how cultural and workplace factors uniquely affect women and can contribute to a person feeling like an imposter, the next steps it to run an assessment of your own workplace culture and ask, ‘Is our organisation an enabler or a blocker?’

Challenging and dispelling gender stereotypes is crucial. In a world where many organisations aim to achieve gender parity in leadership, we cannot forget that more than just promoting women to higher roles, it is necessary to create platforms to support this transition while ensuring the psychological safety of employees. 

Create an empowering company culture

There are many ways in which teams can change how they operate in order to empower women and help encourage a growth mindset within employees.

If this is a new topic to be discussed, it is important to start the conversation from a place of authenticity and openness. Empowering female leaders and employees to describe their lived experiences and their thoughts on the work environment will offer validation for their opinions and a good starting point from which to develop a new strategy.

Supporting colleagues to find a mentor, who could be a female leader within the company or someone external, can go a long way towards building self-esteem and combating imposter syndrome. Mentorship programmes can also help develop self-confidence and help encourage high-achieving women to understand their power and potential in an honest and open way.

Encouraging women’s affinity groups and Learning and Development opportunities can also help combat feelings of isolation and empower women to be the protagonist in their careers, instead of doubting themselves and taking a back seat. These supportive networks can help examine feelings of self-doubt that employees may be experiencing, while promoting greater self-awareness and self-compassion. These groups also support continuous learning and encourage employees to bring their authentic self to work, empowering women and reframing imposter syndrome.

At Adecco, we prioritise promoting an equitable and supportive workplace. We’re proud to have 58% gender parity in leadership roles, every year we publicise a Gender Pay Gap Report with a clear action plan to increase inclusion, we continuously develop our Women’s Health Strategy and accelerate our colleagues’ knowledge and growth by providing training to help them overcome Imposter Syndrome.

If you are interested in learning more about our initiatives and how you can help your employees, we want to hear from you. Talk to your consultant to arrange a meeting with our ED&I team and find out how we can support your organisation combat imposter syndrome and create positive and lasting change.