[geebee]

According to wikipedia: "The impostor syndrome was once thought to be particularly common among women who are successful in their given careers, but has since been shown to occur for an equal number of men."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome

They provide a citation for this, but here it is again (definitely worth going straight to the source rather than taking the one-line summary):

http://www.paulineroseclance.com/pdf/-Langford.pdf

"Studies of college students (Harvey, 1981; Bussotti, 1990; Lang- ford, 1990), college professors (Topping, 1983), and successful professionals (Dingman, 1987) have all failed, however, to reveal any sex differ- ences in impostor feelings, suggesting that males in these populations are just as likely as females to have low expectations of success and to make attributions to non-ability related factors."

I would be inclined to think this syndrome is higher among programmers, because we don't have as clearly defined an education system as something like medicine. But thing is, I've known (yes, male) physicians who never felt confident, felt like they were faking it, even though they had gone to top medical schools and residencies in their specialty. So maybe it's best not to assume our own experience are unique and don't happen to other people.

[mnicole]

I wrote this deeper in this comment thread, but the fact that both genders suffer from it in equal numbers does not mean they suffer from it in an equal manner.

Towards the end of the paper, it says that men with IS are much more likely to take risks, so either women with IS are more affected by it or that view society has on their capabilities - that is mentioned at the beginning of the paper - actually does come into play here.

[geebee]

Is this the part?

"When Beard (1990) compared the PRF traits associated with impostor feelings in men and women, he found differing patterns which suggest that, though both male and female impostors are high in defendence and untrusting of others, they may respond differently to this perception of threat from others in achievement situations. For females, impostor, feelings had low correlations with impulsivity and need for change, consistent with the usual description of impostors as cautious and unlikely to engage in risk-taking. For males, on the other hand, impostor feelings were associated with high impulsivity and a strong need for change, as well as a low need for order. Beard (1990) speculated that, instead of dealing with their sense of inadequacy in the withdrawing style typical of females impostors, male impostors may tend to compensate by pushing themselves in a frenetic manner in order to prove their competency."

[mnicole]

Yup, and the final sentence of that paragraph as well:

> Beard speculated that the primacy of relationships in females' value systems might prevent them from putting relationships at risk by taking the kinds of chances that males might take in order to prove themselves through achievements.

[Most] men who feel like imposters try harder, and [most] women who feel like imposters buckle. This correlates strongly with women being less likely to negotiate salary and ask for a raise, due to how it could change their perception.

Anyhow, I found it interesting, relatable and worth noting.

[geebee]

[Most] men who feel like imposters try harder, and [most] women who feel like imposters buckle.

I don't find nearly as much support for this point of view in the paragraph.

The authors used the words "frenetically" rather than "harder" to describe the way the men work. It also suggested that women avoid risk, but not that they buckle. Too much risk aversion can be destructive, but I could also see the identified male pattern here as being very destructive to a career as well. Perhaps losing confidence, working frenetically, and using rapid change (impulsive job hopping) to escape a situation that actually doesn't need to be escaped, abandoning good relationships with people who don't think he's incompetent at all?