It’s tough to tackle imposter syndrome without acknowledging what feeds it.
In the 1970s, researchers observed a curious phenomenon among women entering the workforce. Despite their qualifications and education, these women felt like frauds. Instead of examining toxic power systems, the concept of imposter syndrome emerged. A classic case of victim-blaming if you ask me.
Now, here we are 50 years later.
Imposter syndrome stems from power dynamics and imbalances in the workplace. Imagine playing a game where only a select group of people know the rules. Once you figure out the rules, they switch it up on you. It’s a never-ending game of Chutes and Ladders, where even high rolls send you sliding down back to start.
This is especially true, if you’re part of a marginalized group.
Power dynamics play out on every level of the education system.
All our systems in the US are built on an imbalance of power dynamics and gatekeeping. Teachers hold power over students. Students get into power struggles with teachers and act out. Students exert their power over other students, which results in wide spread bullying. School psychologists are seen as the gatekeepers of special education. Administrators hold power over teachers. Superintendents hold the whole district hostage with a handful of bad actors. Legislation shapes education in ways that often don’t benefit those it’s meant to help.
We’re all in the same sinking ship—some of us are just closer to the water.
These power dynamics make us feel like imposters. It takes only one person to make you question everything you know. It could be power hungry admin, a group of combative teachers, demanding parent, or hard to reach kid. These are all situations I’ve dealt with at various in my career. It had me questioning my own judgment and sanity.
There’s nothing like being gaslit by those in power so they can play out their own agenda.
The biggest thing you can do for yourself is to not allow others to take your power.
Of course, that’s a lot easier said than done.
Here are some tips to make it easier:
#1: Identifying situations that make you feel like a fraud.
It’s crucial to identify what makes you feel out of place or like an imposter.
Every year, I have a run-in with an intense veteran teacher who thinks they know more than me and wants to let me know. This particular interaction with this teacher was especially combative. She demanded that I explain how the student did well. The teacher demanded to know what tests I gave and wanted copies of the protocol. I spent way too much time talking to the teacher trying to justify my assessment decisions.
I still felt like a fraud despite having a valid and legally defensible assessment.
During my career, I learned to identify what situations made me feel like a fraud and ask if it was true. In this situation, I didn’t do a huge amount of testing because the student already had a diagnosis. I’m not here to reinvent the wheel or question a Doctor’s diagnosis. Our field is moving away from over testing students. The more I asked myself “Is it true?” the more I realized it was a lack of communication and understanding with our team.
This teacher (and her team) went to the principal instead of talking with the sped team. This is why I got an email from the principal earlier in the day to reach out to that teacher. The principal didn’t have enough information to know what was going on.
A simple email from the teacher to me and the resource specialist was the easiest solution.
Some people in their quest for answers want to cause chaos in the process.
That’s not my problem, that’s her stuff to deal with.
That’s not your problem to deal with either.
#2: Recognize Your Power and Don’t Give It Away
It’s important to recognize your power and more important to not give it away.
“Power” can look a variety of different ways. Yes, it can be the position and influence you have. It can also be your time, your energy, and your capacity. I spent a lot of time talking to this teacher about her concerns, but I did so on my terms. I waited until the end of the day when my work was finished to talk to her. I even sent an email before explaining the situation. I emailed her a portion of protocol and talked to her on the phone.
When my imposter syndrome was triggered, I went into emotional overload. I spent the whole day ruminating about it. Where did I go wrong? What did I do wrong? Should I do more testing? Did I even have time for more testing? The student did better than expected on one test, she was still going to qualify. That’s what mattered.
I spent way too much of my time and energy addressing a problem that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
Yes, I talked to her on my terms, but a simple email would be more than enough. Unfortunately, that whole kerfluffle made us change our entire special education process.
We let one person’s problem shift our entire process.
Since the principal got involved, a non-issue turned into a big problem. Sometimes people take sides without hearing the whole story. Yes, it was important to examine our processes and our approach to how we did things for evaluation. Unfortunately, the solution only created more work and confusion for us. We gave too much of our power away as a special education team.
What I learned in that situation is:
- Create your personal standards and processes and don’t waver.
- Don’t let people’s problems shift your power away.
- Determine the outcome you want and move in that direction.
#3: Be Empathetic in your approach but Enforce Your Boundaries
You need to be empathetic to people’s opinions, but you need to be swift in enforcing your boundaries.
For the longest time in my career, I let people walk all over me. As a Black woman, I didn’t want to be the “angry Black woman” stereotype. As a result, I didn’t speak up. People took advantage of my conflict avoidance. It took me years to hone my self-advocacy skills and know my boundaries. There’s a non combative and non threatening way to assert and enforce my boundaries. As a Black woman, my very existence is a threat to others. It’s an unspoken truth that ties into racist power dynamics.
To fully understand the situation, I had to be empathetic to the teacher’s opinion.
I didn’t agree with her in the slightest. What kind of teacher questions why a student does better than expected on one test? I can’t even pretend to understand that rationale. I did take an empathetic approach to how I responded to her. On my end, I should have sent my email and leave it at that. Moving forward, my boundary is that I send an email and I move on. The person with the problem knows how to get a hold of me. Also is the problem actually a problem that needs to be addressed?
The lesson I learned is to create and enforce a boundary.
Each year, I get better with this. I’ve had teachers and admin try me, but I don’t let it happen more than once. Every year I have some combative person that I’ve had to deal with. I’ve also learned that setting a boundary doesn’t always have to mean confrontation. You can set the expectation and continue to hold the line as many times as you need to.
The keys to overcoming imposter syndrome:
The best way to tackle imposter syndrome is to look at the roles people play in upholding these systems. It’s important to identify these systems and ask ourselves, “Is this true?”
It’s common for school psychologists to internalize everything. It’s in our nature to feel deeply. This feeling can be difficult to overcome if we don’t stop those negative thoughts.
- Stand in your power and expertise.
- Don’t let people’s problems impact your ability to enforce your boundaries
- Enforcing your boundaries shouldn’t lead to confrontation.
- Conflict is health, confrontation is not.
- Responding calmly in heated situations takes the wind out of most people’s sails.