Why do more women, compared to men, experience imposter syndrome?

It’s a great challenging question and I have a few theories that I would like to share with you.

Firstly, social conditioning, recently the awesome Erin Gallagher of the phenomenal  #HypeWomen movement stated her theory that females are often socially conditioned to accept a lower position in society, which looks like imposter syndrome but it really isn’t. 

Secondly, the theory around confidence, women often prefer to act when they feel 100% confident to do so. Whilst men are more comfortable with behaving first then they gain confidence next. This has been found repeatedly in studies, especially for job interviews, where females will only apply for jobs they feel confident they can perform close to 100% of the job description. However, males apply for jobs where they feel they fulfill only 50% of the job description.

Thirdly, using attribution theory, it is possible that women are more likely than men to attribute their success to external factors, not taking the credit for their accomplishments. This often leads their confidence to not increase inline with their achievements, creating imposter feelings.

Lastly, affirmative action, although an extremely worthy pursuit, has possibly inadvertently led to females believing they have been promoted based on their gender and not on their merits. This may have subtly eroded the confidence of women in positions of power, feeling out of sync with their peers and their confidence. 

Of course, it could be that men are less likely to admit to imposter feelings, compared to women, leading to a response bias in the data?

I have been researching this imposter syndrome phenomenon and would love to know your own experiences. 

Do any of these theories resonate with you?

Is there anything else that you might consider that might contribute to women possibly experiencing this imposter phenomenon more than men?

Follow me for more discussions regarding imposter syndrome and practical mind skills to overcome this phenomenon forever.

Stay human,

𝒟𝓇 𝒦𝒾𝓂 ✨