In grad school, female astronomy students are more likely to feel like impostors

In a study done by a working group within the Committee for the Status of Women in Astronomy, it was found that feeling like an impostor in the field of astronomy was more likely for female grad students than for male grad students.  A survey was sent out to graduate students in astronomy and astrophysics during the 2006-2007 school year.  They received 1,143 analyzable responses.  The survey asked students to rate the level on which they agreed with statements like “In general, people tend to believe I am more competent than I really am” or “When I succeed, it is because I work much harder than others”.

A main hypothesis was that women would feel like impostors more so than men.  They also hypothesized that impostor phenomenon could be affected by factors such as feeling mentored, length of time in grad school, citizenship, etc.

Mentoring appears to be key.  It was found that students who felt mentored were more likely to feel welcome in their department, and were more likely to think they had the skills necessary to succeed in research.  They also were more likely to think that their success was a result of high ability and were less likely to think that they had obtained their career position by mistake. The further along a student was in their graduate school career, the less likely they are to report feeling mentored.

Female astronomy graduate students were found to be more likely than males to exhibit characteristics indicative of impostor syndrome.  Females were less likely to report that their department was welcoming.  They were less likely to say that their success was a result of high ability and were also less likely to feel confident in their ability to achieve success in their field.  They might be more likely to feel that they have to work harder than others to achieve success.

Summary Points

• Female astronomy graduate students are more likely than males to show traits indicative of impostor phenomenon.
• The longer a student has been in graduate school, the less likely they are to feel mentored
• Students who feel mentored are more likely to feel welcome  in their department and feel confident in their ability to become a good researcher.
• Students who feel mentored are less likely to display characteristics of the impostor phenomenon.

The information in this post comes from “Women in Astronomy and Space Science: Meeting the Challenges of an Increasingly Diverse Workforce”, a book of proceedings from a conference held in October 2009.  The talk given was entitled “Mentoring and the Impostor Syndrome in Astronomy Graduate Students,” and it was given by Rachel Ivie and Arnell Ephraim.

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Tags: astronomy, important issues, impostor phenomenon, women, women scientists