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

• Date: 01 June 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12344
• Published date: 01 June 2019
• Author: Joel Bothello,Thomas J. Roulet

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and S ociety for the Advancement of Ma nagement Studies

The Imposter Syndrome, or the Mis‐Representation of Self

in Academic Life

Joel Bothello and Thomas J. Roulet

Concordia University; University of Cambr idge

THE IM POSTER S YNDROME , OR THE MI S‐R EPRE SENTATION OF SEL F

IN ACA DEMIC LIFE

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 syn-

drome’ (Clance and Imes, 1978) in newly minted academics, a condition where

high‐achieving indiv iduals either ascribe their accomplishments to luck and con-

tingency rather than indiv idual 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.

Although the imposter syndrome is common in many professions, we consider

that certain characteristics intrinsic to management academia progressively in-

tensify this condition. Our occupation is one where the induction rituals – both

formal and informal – are in many ways misaligned with the multi‐dimensional

roles of our profession. This cognitive dissonance leads a growing number of us

to question whether we merit the status, legitimacy and rewards that are con-

ferred upon us as members of a hyper‐competitive scholarly community.

Journal of Man agement Studi es 56:4 June 2019

doi: 10.1111/j oms .123 44

Address for reprints: Joel Bot hello, Concordia University, John Molson School of Business, 1450 Guy

St., Montreal, QC, H 3H 0A1, Canada (joel.bothello@concordi a.ca).