2013 Essays

Impostor Syndrome lecture

Drew, Joshua Adam

I teach a class for first year MA students, entitled “MA Thesis Development Seminar” in which I focus on helping students succeed in their time here. I not only focus on them doing good science, but also on the process by which one does science. That means that I need to talk about mental health.
Today I gave my lecture on the Impostor Syndrome. This is a pernicious aspect of doing graduate work (and beyond) that can impact my students’ ability to do good science by limiting their willingness to secure funding, reducing their networking and professional involvement and ultimately by having them sell themselves short.