In June 2025, I was a co-instructor in Oulu for our annual Summer School.

In the very last session, someone asked how to deal with imposter syndrome. We had some very differing views about it. And that’s OK by the way! It just shows how this topic can be approached from many ways, and how it’s a perpetual mystery in academia.

I think it’s natural to feel it. And there’s no silver bullet solution to get rid of it just like that. I also think that most imposter syndrome in academia is just evidence you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing.

You’re feeling lost, as you are lost when you’re going into the unknown.

I feel lost and frustrated every single week. Of course I do!

What matters is how we bounce back from those feelings, and find our confidence and direction again. And no imposter syndrome is going to stop me from being happy and feeling great about academia!

Feelings are normal. It’s just a feeling. Pretty sure we can all agree on that.

We’ve somehow weaponised a perfectly normal human learning experience and turned it into a demon.

And today, we’ll take that demon down.

What Are We Really Even Talking About Here?

Let’s just nail the basics first.

Most of what gets labeled “imposter syndrome” in academia is natural discomfort of being a beginner in something.

Real imposter syndrome (the clinical kind) is when successful people persistently doubt their accomplishments despite evidence of their competence.

And I don’t even like the word syndrome. It just makes it sound like a disease, whereas in reality it’s a systemic issue: Academia is designed to be hard.

And whatever is not systemic, you can learn to tame.

You don’t have a syndrome.

If you’re doing what you’re supposed to do, to grow, you’re a beginner at something all the time.

All the time!

And being a beginner tends to be hard.

You’re doing your PhD? You’re literally learning to be a researcher. Of course, you don’t know what you’re doing half the time!

Oh, you’re a postdoc? You’re learning a new field, new methods, new collaborators.

Oh, you’re starting as faculty? Well well, you’re learning to teach, manage, write grants, and run a lab simultaneously. The fact that you feel overwhelmed doesn’t make you an imposter at all!

Tenured? Oh, now the fun just begins! You get to learn to worry about funding and teaching and legacy and higher level faculty panels and organize study curricula.

Even one of the original researchers who dubbed the whole thing (Pauline Clance) herself said: 

“If I could do it all over again, I would call it the imposter experience, because it’s not a syndrome or a complex or a mental illness, it’s something almost everyone experiences.”

It’s all just learning.
We’re either making or finding the path.
But in all cases, it’s about something new.

And it doesn’t help we’re always evaluated so much… so perfection becomes a burden.

The Academic Perfectionism Trap

Ever found yourself thinking this?

“You better make it perfect, there will be eyes on it!”

Even the very idea that when you write a piece of paper it’s going to be immediately peer-reviewed feeds into this fake need of perfectionism.

And quite often we tend to forget that most reviewers are just like…us. They’re literally our peers.

And some people judging us are absolutely, completely clueless. Sorry but it’s true.

I should know, I just finished my gig as a Subcommittee chair in CHI 2026, where we oversaw 400+ papers = 1600 reviews give or take.

Some reviewers are, in reality, clueless, and some don’t care.

One of my good friends tends to always say “perfectionism is the lowest standard possible.” Because it’s not something to aim for.

It just screws up your plans and slows down your progress.

Diving back to Imposter Syndrome…I’m researching and writing (and creating an online tool) for eliminating IP.

Ain’t this exciting! But here’s the quick synthesis of the science-backed protocol. You should try this.

With pen and paper first. Always pen and paper. It’s the modern-day rebellion against overuse of LLMs for everything.

How to Silence Imposter Syndrome in 5 Minutes

This works if you learn to use it.

1. Name the fake voice inside your head (1 min): When you feel the all too familiar panic, don’t buy into it. Stop. And just label it. Something like: “I am currently spinning a ‘Fraud Narrative.’ This is just a stress response, not a fact about my capability.” Naming the emotion instantly reduces its intensity. And just noticing the thought allows you to do something about it. Again, the magic skill: self-awareness.
2. Check the facts (1 min): Imposter thoughts are vague feelings. Kill them with data. List 2-4 objective, undeniable facts about yourself and your past achievements in the same direction. Not random things you can dismiss as “luck”, but your own merits that cannot be argued with: “I finished the draft. My prior experiment was successful. I was invited to X. I was chosen for something because of my skills. I did Y in the past.”
3. The ‘Both/And’ reframe (1 min): Combine parts 1 and 2 now. Smart people reject positive reframes (or affirmations) because they “feel fake” or are not plausible immediately. So, don’t just “be positive” but validate both the negative thought (fear) and the positive evidence simultaneously. “I feel completely out of my depth right now, AND I have a track record of figuring out complex problems eventually.” It’s honest and genuinely, actually empowering. It makes you see the growth opportunity. It makes you see why you’re feeling the way you feel.
4. Credit your toolkit (1 min): Anxiety makes you focus on what you lack. Flip the script and focus on what always saves you. Focus always on the good. The bad will be there forever, so why dwell on that? Focus is what dictates your experience of life. Name one specific, useful trait or habit. Think: “My stubbornness in this matter is actually a research asset,” or “I am good at finding the answers when I don’t know them.” Just be honest here. I’m sure you can find something you’re good at! And if you can’t, well, this is a great time to practice it!
5. Break the bubble (1 min): Imposter feelings grow in isolation. You need to reconnect with your crew. Do something low-stakes to interact. Send a quick “Thank you” email to a student, comment on a colleague’s post, or drop a link in a group chat. Just say good morning. Remind yourself you are part of the team. Connect. Connect. Connect.

And yes, all of the above takes practice. It does. None of this “self-help stuff” I talked about last time works if just consumed.

But these protocols… you know, they work! And you get to invoke them when you need them. But first you must have the protocol stored somewhere.

So maybe write this protocol down and try it when you feel imposter syndrome next time?

Actually Do It

I cannot stress this part enough.

How many times are you OK with just reading things and not trying? If you’re anything like me, you do that quite often.

Recently, I’ve tried things I’ve intellectually known for years to work, and found…they work!

Action is key.

Try it. Just once. Please?