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Combatting imposter syndrome – the Returners
Ever dismissed a colleague’s congratulations with “I was just lucky”? Been afraid to ask for help, or pushed beyond healthy limits at work to ‘prove’ yourself? You may have imposter syndrome – defined by the OED as ‘the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills’.`
You’re not alone. Research by Hays1 found that 70% of women and 58% of men have had imposter syndrome at some point in their careers. It’s also notable in younger people – 71% of 20-29 year olds, and 70% of 30-39 year olds have experienced imposter syndrome.
However, I feel there’s a specific set of women who suffer from imposter syndrome in a slightly different way – the Returners.
I have 3 children, 1 born in 2004 and twins born in 2008. The return to work with my first was brutal even with 2 active sets of grandparents who stepped up to the challenge and enabled me to return.
4 years later was a different story – grandparents were tired, childcare costs increased, I was beginning to get back on my path in terms of seniority and recompense – but I had no choice, I had to give up work.
Returning to work in 2014 was hard, I was literally an imposter. The world had moved on and I struggled to keep up. I started slow, too slow almost and worked for very little money for years.
We survived COVID, which broaden my work horizons. The ability to work in a hybrid way meant I had options when looking at which companies / industries to work for, and I enjoy seeing my younger colleagues have this opportunity at an earlier stage in their careers.
A costly skills drain
While imposter syndrome affects both women and men, it’s potentially a contributory factor to 40-60,000 women choosing to leave roles in the UK tech and digital sector each year, costing the UK economy £2-3.5 billion2. This can damage not only individual women’s careers, but also the tech businesses employing them: they lose key skills and experience and face additional recruitment costs.
How can we help empower women, including returners to combat imposter syndrome? Below, we suggest some actions that you can take as an individual, and ways in which organisations can help.
Self-awareness solutions
It’s important to recognise that you have earned your achievements. Make a daily or weekly ‘self-belief’ file, where you keep a list of all your achievements: whether academic, work-related or more personal examples. I will confess I struggle with this essentially simple approach – you are literally the only barrier to this!
Avoid negative comparisons. The only person you’re in competition with is yourself. Compare your successes against your past self and recognise when you’ve learnt lessons and behaved differently. While it’s OK to strive towards self-improvement, set realistic goals that are bespoke to you, rather than using others as a benchmark.
Finally, it is not expected to understand everything straight away. Asking for help doesn’t make you any less of a person. Make an objective list of what you know – it’s probably more than you think – and what you need to know and seek out those who can help you learn it.
Supportive systems
Organisations can help combat imposter syndrome in their people by providing workshops and training that build self-esteem. Mentoring can help grow confidence too, particularly where mentors share their own imposter syndrome experiences. Create systems in your organisation that enable recognition to be easily given, and mandate leaders to regularly offer that recognition. And showcase your female role models – by acknowledging their achievements, you help them acknowledge that they have earned their success.
As technology such as AI evolves, it needs to draw its data from diverse sources to avoid bias. This must include differences in the backgrounds of those that develop it. By combatting imposter syndrome, we help to encourage the women in tech, and the returners, who will form a key part of that diversity.
About the campaign
techUK’s March TechTogether campaign continues with a focus on ‘empowering women in tech from classroom to c-suite'. Following International Women's Day our insights this week focus on female retention and growth in tech workplaces, spotlighting successful female tech leaders, gender pay disparities in the tech world, and addressing workplace biases and strengthening DEI initiatives.
TechTogether Week 2
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