Why Do Women Doubt Their Own Success?

Table of contents:Where does impostor syndrome come from and what are its consequences?Why do women doubt their abilities?Gender biases prevent women's successMichelle Obama was the first influential woman to publicly address her feeling of illegitimacy. And yet, despite her status and international recognition, she doubts her ability to hold such a position. Like her, millions of women suffer from impostor syndrome. Yet even though men experience it too, how do we explain that this phenomenon primarily affects women?

Where does impostor syndrome come from and what are its consequences?

"Impostor syndrome" is an expression that describes the tendency to doubt one's abilities and never take credit for one's own work. Individuals affected by this phenomenon struggle to advance and obtain positions of responsibility. They never feel capable of holding such positions even though they are brilliant and have the skills to do so.

A syndrome that primarily affects high-performing women

The concept of impostor syndrome was first developed and studied in 1978. The findings revealed that this phenomenon disproportionately affected high-performing women. These conclusions generated numerous avenues for solving the problem. Since the 2010s, there has been a surge of interest in the subject: books, methods, programs, and conferences aimed at combating impostor syndrome in women. However, all these solutions have proven ineffective because they address the consequences rather than the root cause of the problem: women doubt their success.

Why do women doubt their abilities?

There are two mechanisms at play in the construction of this feeling of illegitimacy:

• Not feeling as brilliant or intelligent as what is expected of us.
• Having underdeveloped self-confidence.

These are the mechanisms that most impact women, even though some men also suffer from impostor syndrome.

Gender stereotypes reinforce the feeling of being an impostor

For centuries, women's bodies, brains, and intelligence have been questioned, as author Susan Griffin highlights in her essay. She describes a bias that leads people to believe that high-level cognitive abilities are more often present in men than in women. Beyond internalizing the idea that they are less intelligent from childhood, women are repeatedly told they don't measure up in adulthood. Over the past decade, we have begun to understand concepts such as:

• Manterrupting - which refers to the behavior of men who consciously or unconsciously interrupt a woman during discussions or debates because of her gender
• Mansplaining - which refers to a situation in which a man explains something to a woman that she already knows, or is even an expert in, often in a paternalistic or condescending tone

These concepts are very interesting because they help us understand the full complexity of impostor syndrome. It is about not feeling good enough because societal constructs do not allow women to feel intelligent enough, and they are constantly reminded that their voice is worth less than a man's.

Differentiated socialization impacts self-confidence

Building self-confidence starts in childhood through our socialization instances. "Differentiated socialization" through which we were raised or still raise our children does not help girls develop self-confidence. Today, women are asked to work on their self-confidence and internalize the fact that they are just as intelligent and capable as men. Yet they have evolved in a system that asked them to internalize that they were not, and they work in an environment that constantly reminds them that they are the variation, not the norm. Faced with these biases they experience from childhood through the workplace, how can women feel like they belong?

Gender biases prevent women's success

Psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic presented his research in his TEDX talk "Why So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders". According to him, the main reason for gender inequality in management positions is our inability to distinguish confidence from competence. Self-confidence is often mistakenly equated with competence and leadership. Today's systems for recruiting and promoting leaders are therefore biased. Incompetent people are promoted to leadership positions at the expense of competent people, who are predominantly women.

Prioritizing diversity and inclusivity in the workplace

By preserving the current system, we continue to fuel women's doubt about their abilities. The solution to overcoming impostor syndrome is:

• To avoid pursuing individual solutions to problems disproportionately caused by deeply entrenched, discriminatory global systems.
• To change our representation of leadership by diversifying the people who embody it.

All leadership models resemble men, and their skills or leadership styles are rarely questioned. Women experience the opposite: prejudice and exclusion intensify the feelings of doubt they may have about leadership. In 2022, it is imperative for companies to create an environment that fosters a variety of leadership styles and in which diverse racial, ethnic, and gender identities are considered just as professional as the current model generally described as "Eurocentric, masculine, and heteronormative." It's not women who need to change, but the environment around them.Get a demoTry free for 14 days.