New Zealand Statistical Association 2024 Conference

Sam Preston

University of Canterbury Business School

Understanding the lived experiences of impostor phenomenon among leaders in Mathematics and Statistics

Despite clear indicators of success, many leaders experience persistent feelings of inadequacy, question themselves, and fear being exposed as frauds. This is referred to as the Impostor Phenomenon (IP), and it can impact the well-being of leaders and organisations.

In this study, I researched academic leaders in mathematics and statistics and explored their lived experiences of the impostor phenomenon. Existing research has relied mainly on quantitative approaches to understand the prevalence of the impostor phenomenon. Quantitative approaches may overlook subtle contextual factors that shape leaders’ experiences, and in some studies, the focus has only been on inherent traits and their role in shaping IP. Thus, this study used an inductive, qualitative research design to explore the lived experiences among leaders in mathematics and statistics in New Zealand to achieve a more nuanced understanding.

To gather data, I conducted 16 semi-structured interviews with professionals who hold or previously held academic leadership positions. Qualitative coding and thematic analysis (research methods) revealed three themes associated with the impostor phenomenon experience. These themes represented the impostor phenomenon as having 1) an essence, 2) some critical contextual considerations, and 3) some alleviating factors.

This study contributes to the literature on the impostor phenomenon by exploring lived experiences, providing a more nuanced understanding of the ‘impostor phenomenon’ construct. The study provides insight into how mathematics and statistics leaders can mitigate adverse experiences of impostor phenomenon and how creating an overall sense of workplace well-being should be a top priority for organisations.