Feeling Like a Fraud - The Impostor Phenomenon in Science Writing

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Author: Sandeep Ravindran
Full Title: Feeling Like a Fraud: The Impostor Phenomenon in Science Writing
Type: #snippet✂️
Document Tags: #sci_comms
URL: https://www.theopennotebook.com/2016/11/15/feeling-like-a-fraud-the-impostor-phenomenon-in-science-writing/

Journalism certainly fits the bill. The feeling of being a fraud is also common in fast-changing fields such as technology or medicine. “So if you also happen to be a journalist in technology, in science, in medicine, there’s also that sense of not being able to keep up like you should be,” says Valerie Young, author of The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women: Why Capable People Suffer from the Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It. (View Highlight)
It’s particularly common to feel like an impostor early in one’s career. “This is something that does get better over time,” says Helmuth. But it’s situational, and can crop up when starting a new job or taking on a leadership position. “The impostor syndrome never really goes away, and each time you do something new, of course you have to deal with it again,” says Helmuth. (View Highlight)
The journalists I spoke to who hadn’t experienced the impostor phenomenon certainly seemed to think about success, failure, and rejection differently than those who experienced impostorism. “All the jobs that I’ve had, I felt that I deserved them; all the promotions that I’ve gotten, I felt that I earned them,” says Lloyd. “When rejection or failure crops up it’s disturbing, and you have to think it through and analyze it, but ultimately I tend to just get back to work and move on,” she says. (View Highlight)