Beyond Imposter Syndrome: A Systemic Approach to Promoting Gender Equity in Global Health Leadership
In celebration of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, the Global Health Corps (GHC) community gathered on March 29th for a fireside chat about imposter syndrome and its relation to gender inequity in global health leadership. This chat featured CEO Heather Anderson, Vice President and Executive Editor at Penguin Random House Jamia Wilson, and alumni Caroline Numuhire, Lanice Williams, and 2017–Musonda Chikwanda. This discussion was inspired by a Harvard Business Review (HBR) article by Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey called “Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome,” which stated that “imposter syndrome directs our view toward fixing women at work instead of fixing the places where women work.”
Prior to attending a leadership workshop in college, I had no idea that I was experiencing imposter syndrome, let alone that there was a term for what I was feeling. It was relieving to hear that those sensations I’d felt of not being qualified for something–even if I had the interest and drive for it–was not just a weakness in my character, but rather something that many people, at all points of accomplishments, also experienced. I also remember, as the HBR article alluded to, feeling temporary empowerment that all I had to do was repeat positive affirmations, talk about my accomplishments with others, and other action steps that were focused on self-improvement.
Although those practices are important and helpful, attention was not given to the source of the issue. Why was I feeling inadequate to begin with? Why did I have to make sure that all of my work was chiseled to perfection in silence so that no one could call me out? Even for those who have laundry lists of accomplishments and credentials that any onlooker would be proud to see, what causes them to still doubt themselves? Band-aids in the form of self-improvement to these psychological wounds may be easier and faster, but we can, and must do better by tackling the root harm at hand in a time when the potential and ideas of diverse individuals are more important than ever before.
As such, I was uplifted to hear Heather frame that “we’re shifting the focus away from the narrative that women are solely responsible for overcoming their imposter syndrome and towards a narrative that centers on making systemic changes that allow women to thrive in leadership.” Having experienced imposter syndrome early on in her own career, Heather recounted a time when she was given feedback from her boss that she was actually “too ambitious” and that she needed to tone it down.
“It turns out that being competent and confident wasn’t really enough to close the gender gap in leadership for women.”
Despite exuding “masculine” leadership traits of being confident, driven, and results-oriented, Heather has learned throughout her years at GHC that more “feminine” leadership skills such as compassion, empathy, and vulnerability are also signs of strong leadership. Yet, these are often overlooked in the leadership development arena.
Jamia celebrated the vision and work of GHC as it “is not just building the confidence and skills of individual women, but providing platforms for them to advocate, with others, for gender equity at the organizational and societal levels, too.” As Jamia sparked the conversation among the panelists about their own experiences with imposter syndrome, what has helped them, and what change needs to occur, a sort of “healing space” was formed when each woman shared their experiences.
Lanice opened up that imposter syndrome is something that she’s currently navigating, and echoed Heather in that it should be addressed on a systemic level. Especially for women of color, space needs to be created for them to be their true selves and for that self to be appreciated and valued. For supervisors in the workplace, that means providing mentorship, professional development, and other support when employees share that they are experiencing imposter syndrome.
Lanice also reflected on the value of male allies in a mixed-gender workplace acting as vocal champions and advocates for gender equity. With their privilege, they can open up space and opportunities, address gender biases that arise, and ensure healthy partnerships between all genders in the workplace. She learned during her GHC years to be resourceful. Even if our workplace systems aren’t quite there yet, we can still reach out to our allies or trusted coworkers to serve as sounding boards for our thoughts.
For a period in her career, Caroline was a silent worker. She wanted to remain humble about the work she was doing in order to connect with the people around her. However, due to her silence, Caroline had a colleague ask her, “Are you ashamed of what you do?” It made her realize that she was subconsciously hiding, and it hit her that other women could be negatively impacted by this lack of transparency. Women are often raised to be silent, feminine, and to stay at home. Speaking up as a woman is speaking up for all women in the long run.
When prompted about her insights on the gender equity progress of the Rwandan government, she emphasized that we are “shaking the world” when we challenge the stereotypical roles of women in society. Because of the increased representation in political leadership, there’s much more normalization of women being in power. Meanwhile, these same women are still fulfilling their traditional roles of being mothers, sisters, and friends in their communities. Consequently, this duality of women contributes to a national disruption, paving the road to becoming more inclusive while challenging society’s perspectives on gender roles for the future.
Musonda recalled a job application experience from her past in which she’d sought out advice from her friends and colleagues on how to “quiet down” since she didn’t believe that her naturally loud self was appropriate. She later realized that she just needed to be herself — naturally loud and dark-humored — because her voice and boldness were exactly what the organization was looking for.
Musonda also brought in an intergenerational lens to the importance of young people needing to see role models — especially for young girls who are taught that speaking up makes you look “overconfident.” Teaching young women not to speak up out of respect for elders is damaging as they adapt their ambitions and life around those norms. Being a part of the GHC community has helped her understand how to navigate those difficulties, and thus, she now has the confidence to help young women and girls overcome their own struggles. This is the cycle of role models — an important resource noted in the HBR article that men have more of than women — needed to break the cycle of imposter syndrome. Their impact is amplified with each generation that comes along until, little by little, we see the whole world progressing.
A common idea shared by each of the panelists and Jamia was that women must support other women in order to pave the way for more spaces in which women can create an impact. They need to be reminded that they belong, they deserve to be there, and that they are worthy. Additionally, women must listen and learn from each other’s feedback and wisdom.
As the conversation drew to a close, Jamia was reminded of a powerful quote from actress, writer, and producer, Mindy Kaling:
“The scary thing I have noticed is that some people really feel uncomfortable around women who don’t hate themselves. So that’s why you need to be a little bit brave.”
Some workplaces are able to establish and maintain their social hierarchies by this very notion. Thus, to challenge the status quo, Jamia asked us to answer, “what’s a loving thing that I’m doing for myself and others at work?” We have to be brave to be vulnerable and to imagine ourselves in a space that may not have been created yet. As a final call to action, she challenged the audience to think about how we’ve referenced imposter syndrome as it relates to other young women and about how we can challenge that mindset to create more inclusion and belonging for women to thrive.
No matter your personal takeaway from the discussion, the creating and holding of a safe space to talk about imposter syndrome was evidently healing in and of itself (as noted by several attendees). After learning from each speaker’s personal anecdotes and experiences, Jamia left the audience with a quote to come back to whenever we’re struggling — “your wound is our wound.” As we all shift our perspective of imposter syndrome from an issue that only ourselves are responsible for to one that everyone is responsible for, remember that your feelings are valid, you belong here, and we all have each other’s back!
Angelee Chen is the Spring Communications Intern at Global Health Corps. She is a recent graduate of Ithaca College where she majored in Environmental Studies.
Global Health Corps (GHC) is a leadership development organization building the next generation of health equity leaders around the world. All GHC fellows, partners, and supporters are united in a common belief: health is a human right. There is a role for everyone in the movement for health equity. To learn more, visit our website and connect with us on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook.
