The Imposter Syndrome, or the Mis‐Representation of Self in Academic Life

Joel Bothello () and Thomas J. Roulet
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Joel Bothello: EM - EMLyon Business School
Thomas J. Roulet: CAM - University of Cambridge [Cambridge, UK]

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Abstract: As academics who have recently entered the ‘tunnel' of management academia, we witness a troubling phenomenon. Among junior scholars – ourselves included – there is a growing sense of anxiety and self-doubt about the legitimacy of our profession and our position within it. We see much evidence of an ‘imposter syndrome' (Clance and Imes, 1978) in newly minted academics, a condition where high-achieving individuals either ascribe their accomplishments to luck and contingency rather than individual skill and merit, or find their profession to be a ‘bullshit job' that provides little social value. This condition leads to a sense of anomie; in more severe cases, individuals live with the constant fear that they will someday lose all credibility, either when they are exposed as charlatans or when their occupation is revealed to be a sham.

Keywords: Academic; representation of self (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-04-28
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Published in Journal of Management Studies, In press, 56 (4), pp.854 - 861. ⟨10.1111/joms.12344⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05511801

DOI: 10.1111/joms.12344

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