100 REFLECTIONS ON CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP
they may suffer from generalized forms of anxiety, lack of self - confi -
dence, and depression.Women Who Feel ImposturousThe term ‘ impostor phenomenon ’ was coined in 1978 by psychology
professor Pauline Clance and psychologist Suzanne Imes of Georgia State
University. In a study of high - achieving women, Clance and Imes dis-
covered that many of their female clients seemed unable to internalize
and accept their achievements. In spite of consistent objective data to
the contrary, they attributed their success to serendipity, luck, contacts,
timing, perseverance, charm, or even the ability to appear more capable
than they felt.
Women who reach successful positions that confl ict with their
family of origin ’ s way of thinking about gender roles are especially
prone to feeling fraudulent. The gender socialization that women are
often exposed to — for instance, being told that they should become
nurses or secretaries when choosing a career — tends to augment
their sense of imposture when their achievements rise above those
expectations.
Inner confusion develops into genuine neurotic imposture for many
women when they reach critical points in their lives — marriage, work,
and children. Decisions around these areas are especially diffi cult for
women who have been raised by traditional mothers, homemakers who
raised the children and did not work outside the home. Consciously
or not, women tend to compare their chosen role with the role their
mother played. The fact that working women choose not to stay at
home but to pursue a career — a lifestyle very different from what they
witnessed as children — often makes them feel like bad mothers to their
own children and bad wives to their husbands.
To take an example: a prominent female executive in Holland,
where women used rarely to be found in top positions, described to me
her experience of having both a career and family life.
When I decided to go to university and study business economics most
people looked at it as a passing whim, a few years of study at the most, a
good way of fi nding a husband. I actually did fi nd a husband but continued
my studies and received a degree. To do that and have a baby as well was
relatively unheard of at the time. I certainly got an earful ... But what
really became an irritant to many was my decision to work. How could
I do that as a mother? How could I live with myself? I think most people
considered me quite irresponsible.