Dealing with Impostor Syndrome in the Engineering World
Practical advice on how to deal with one of the most common psychological states in engineering.
If I had to mention a feeling that accompanied my last 25 years of career in the engineering field, I’d probably say the fear of not being up to my position.
This holds true for when I was an individual contributor at the beginning of my career, and it grew as I advanced into more strategic and leadership roles.
This is what is commonly—and incorrectly—referred to as Impostor Syndrome.
A lot has already been written about this psychological pattern. I admit, I’ve had this article in my backlog for months, always reluctant to publish it, thinking I’d just be repeating the obvious; if you think about it, this reluctance is a sign of the impostor phenomenon itself.
In reality, before writing this article, I wanted to collect enough information and reflect on how I’ve experienced it to share my unique point of view and, as I always try to do, offer practical advice on how to deal with it.
So, with this in mind, today we are going to explore Impostor Syndrome in all its facets, and precisely:
💭 What Impostor Syndrome is
🧠 Some psychological concepts related to this emotional phenomenon
🦠 How Impostor Syndrome affects engineering environments
🥊 How to fight this feeling
As always, we have a lot to cover, so let’s begin!
💭 What is the Impostor Syndrome?
The first thing I want to clarify is that, despite its name, impostor syndrome is not a clinical syndrome or a psychiatric disorder.
So, while it’s commonly referred to as a syndrome, and for convenience, I will use this term throughout this article, keep this in mind.
Impostor syndrome is a psychological phenomenon in which individuals doubt their accomplishments and persistently fear being exposed as "frauds" despite external evidence of their competence.
The term was first coined by psychologists Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes in 1978 when they observed this phenomenon in high-achieving women. Since then, research has shown that impostor syndrome can affect anyone, regardless of gender, job status, or level of success.
Though not a recognized disorder, impostor syndrome can significantly impact an individual’s mental health, leading to anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, and stress.
Dunning Kruger Bias and Impostor Phenomenon
Another way I find useful to understand the impostor phenomenon is to compare it with the well-known Dunning Kruger effect.
The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where individuals with low ability in a particular area overestimate their own competence. So, in some way, it’s the opposite of what happens with the impostor phenomenon.
On the other hand, this effect also notes that highly competent individuals might underestimate their relative competence, assuming that tasks that are easy for them are also easy for others.
Dunning Kruger Effect: shows that individuals with lower actual competence tend to overestimate their abilities (overconfidence), peaking in confidence at lower levels of competence. This confidence starts going down when they gain competence and this often leads to feeling impostors.
Impostor Syndrome: shows that as competence increases, individuals experiencing impostor phenomenon tend to underestimate their abilities (underconfidence), with the lowest perceived competence occurring at higher levels of actual competence.
Causes of Impostor Syndrome
Impostor Syndrome is a complex phenomenon influenced by a variety of factors. No single cause has been pinpointed; rather, it is believed to emerge from a combination of personality traits and situational triggers.
Here are some of the primary causes associated with the impostor phenomenon:
🏠 Family Dynamics: high expectations and criticism coming from education.
🧠 Personality Traits: perfectionism, lack of self-awareness, and anxiety.
🌍 Cultural Factors: cultural background and societal expectations.
🏢 Workplace Environment: competitive environments with high expectations.
🏆 Early Successes/Failures: pressure from early successes or lingering doubts from failures.
📊 Peer Comparisons: comparisons with peers amplified by social media.
5 Types of Impostors
Impostor phenomenon can manifest in various ways and affects individuals across different professions, life stages, and personal backgrounds.
Dr. Valerie Young, an expert on Impostor Syndrome, has identified five distinct "faces" or types of Impostor Syndrome, each with its own set of characteristics and origins.
These are the five types:
🎯 The Perfectionist
Characteristics: sets exceptionally high standards and considers even minor mistakes as failures.
Origin: comes from environments where excellence is heavily rewarded or demanded, leading to a belief that perfection is essential.
💪 The Superhero
Characteristics: strives to work harder and longer than peers to prove worthiness, needing to excel in every aspect of life.
Origin: stems from a deep-seated belief of inadequacy, compensating by overachieving.
🧠 The Natural Genius
Characteristics: expects to master tasks effortlessly; feels fraudulent when having to spend significant effort.
Origin: often praised for innate intelligence rather than effort, leading to shame when facing challenges.
🚶♂️ The Soloist
Characteristics: prefers to tackle tasks independently; views seeking help as a sign of weakness or fraudulence.
Origin: raised in environments that prize self-reliance as a measure of competence.
📚 The Expert
Characteristics: has an insatiable need to know every detail before starting projects; fears being perceived as inexperienced.
Origin: emerges from settings that highly emphasize knowledge and expertise, fostering a belief that one can never be knowledgeable enough.
In my career journey, I've worn different masks at different stages, and here's what I observed:
As an individual contributor, I was deep into perfectionism, felt like a natural genius, and often played the expert role.
When I stepped up to manager or leader, I took on the soloist role and sometimes felt like a superhero.
🦠 How Impostor Phenomenon Affects Engineering Environments
As we've already mentioned, the impostor phenomenon can affect anyone.
However, I firmly believe that the IT engineering environment is particularly fertile ground for this psychological pattern.
Here are a few reasons why:
💻 Rapid Technological Changes: constant updates and new technologies make it hard to feel like an expert.
🚀 High Expectations: the push for innovation and breakthrough solutions fuels self-doubt.
🧩 Complexity and Specialization: the depth of specialization in IT can isolate professionals, making self-assessment difficult.
📊 Comparative Performance: visibility on platforms and networks leads to constant comparison with peers.
🌐 Diverse Workforce: working with a global team can intensify feelings of inadequacy.
It should be noted that tech companies—and consequently engineers—tend to be more public with their accomplishments and challenges.
This transparency results in a wealth of "literature" coming from our sector, which may amplify the perception that the impostor phenomenon is more prevalent in engineering.
Feeling an Impostor with Career Advancement
Another interesting thing that I noticed, which might sound counterintuitive, is that the further you progress in your engineering career, the more likely you will experience the impostor phenomenon.
This is especially true for those advancing into management or leadership roles.
There are two main reasons for this:
📈 Increased Responsibility: as you advance in your career in engineering, you'll face greater responsibilities, which can amplify doubts about your abilities.
📉 Less Tangible Work: transitioning from an individual contributor to a management or leadership role means your work becomes less tangible. Based on my experience, this shift is a significant trigger for the impostor phenomenon.
🥊 How to Fight Impostor Phenomenon
As the saying goes, “being aware of the problem is half the solution”, and this is particularly true for the impostor phenomenon. As we've mentioned, although it's called syndrome, it technically isn't one.
Self-Awareness
Self-awareness in general is probably the best weapon you have to fight impostor phenomenon and something you should train to thrive in your career.
These are my main suggestions to train your self-awareness:
🤔 Reflect: reserve some time every day to think about yourself. This practice can help you notice patterns in your thoughts and behaviors, which becomes crucial in identifying impostor patterns.
🌿 Time alone: spend time alone without distractions. Use this time to think, feel, and be with yourself, exploring your inner world.
📣 Seek Feedback: actively seek constructive feedback from peers and friends. Understanding how others perceive you can provide valuable insights into your behaviors and social interactions.
🌍 Try new things: stepping out of your comfort zone by trying new activities, hobbies, or roles can reveal aspects of your character and capabilities that you might not have been aware of before.
Journaling
The second best weapon you have to fight impostor phenomenon, which definitely made a big difference in my career, is journaling. This was crucial for me when I transitioned from an individual contributor to a manager/leadership role.
As we've seen, when you move into these roles, what was once tangible work and impact becomes less tangible.
✍️ What you achieved: write down your daily achievements. Ten minutes per day are enough; you don’t need to write books. Over time, this will help you visualize the amount of things you have achieved and assist in preventing feelings an impostor.
🎯 Your goals: writing down your yearly, monthly, and even weekly goals helps you understand if you are making progress. This, again, is very effective in preventing the feeling that you are doing nothing.
❤️ Your feelings: Writing about how you feel can help you identify patterns in your emotional responses to different situations. Recognizing these patterns can provide insights into triggers for your impostor feelings and help you develop strategies to manage them more effectively.
Don’t go Alone
As we've observed, impostors often feel like superheroes or geniuses and tend to go it alone. Therefore, one of the best ways to combat this phenomenon is to surround yourself with people you trust and seek their help.
🤝 Show Vulnerability: admitting you don't have all the answers can be powerful. When you show vulnerability, you open yourself up to support from others and reduce the pressure to appear perfect.
👥 Think as a Team: don’t try to tackle everythign alone, seek your team’s support instead. Collaborative efforts not only enhance results but also distribute the stress and diminish feelings of being an impostor.
🧠 Seek Coaching: a coach or mentor can provide perspective, encouragement, and actionable advice. Their experience can help you navigate doubts and foster personal and professional growth.
One more thing…
When you advance to higher leadership roles, such as that of an Engineering Director or VP of Engineering, your work will become even less tangible, and at times, you might find yourself without practical tasks to complete.
Everything is going well: your teams are performing great, and management is happy with your achievements, but you might feel as if you are doing nothing, leading you to feel like an impostor.
I’ve been there, and sometimes this feeling comes back.
Repeat with me:
“It’s perfectly fine to have nothing specific to do”
Just make sure to use this time wisely.
Take a course, read this newsletter (🤓), write down your thoughts, be proactive and start new initiatives, or sometimes, just take some rest!
Your mental health is your team’s health.
✌️ That’s all folks
That's all for today! As always, I would love to hear from my readers (and if you've made it this far, you're one of the bravest). Please don't hesitate to connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter and send a message. I always respond to every one!
I loved the way you described Imposter syndrome and matched it to competence level. My experiences aligned completely there. The only caveat I was naive when I started and felt like an imposter, but I started off by trying to hide it hard! But as I grew in my role, I became more vocal imposter and admitting my shortcomings openly.
I think to add to your final point "Don't go alone", building a solid support system is something I've found very useful dealing with this, to be fair you said this thing too.
Another thing I found particularly helpful was to find a superhero, a person that you look up to and can get in touch with. For me, this was our VP, but it can CXOs or your guru. When they shared their imposter syndrome story, it always calmed me down.
Great post, Nicola, really enjoyed it!
Absolutely brilliant; Thx