Clearance #:  111533

Date of Clearance: September 27, 2019

This project has been approved by the Carleton University Research Ethics Board. Please contact the Board chair, at 613 520 2600 ext. 2517 or email ethics@carleton.ca if you have any concerns, referencing project number 111533.

Invitation

We are asking you to complete this questionnaire because you are a current graduate student studying in social sciences, arts, and humanities at Carleton University. This questionnaire is being conducted by the research team at the Emotional Geographies Lab at Carleton University, working under the supervision of Dr. Sophie Tamas. The study is funded by the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Grant.

Objectives and Summary:

Our project examines “imposter syndrome” and the ways it circulates in and structures experiences of academic spaces and practices on Carleton’s campus. We are interested in exploring some of the assumptions that commonly underpin our conceptions of imposter syndrome. In addition, we are interested in the ways in which we might reframe imposter syndrome to consider alternative dimensions that go beyond the individual and their private experiences. Currently, the literature tends to mask structural or systemic factors that may produce or amplify experiences of imposter syndrome. Finally, we are interested in exploring the “uses” of imposter syndrome, if any, as well as the work it is doing.

We estimate that the questionnaire will take about 20 minutes to complete.  Your participation is voluntary, and you may choose not to answer any of the questions.  You are free to withdraw at any time prior to submitting your questionnaire.

Risks and Benefits:

We do not anticipate any risks from taking the questionnaire, however you may find some of the questions to be of a sensitive nature. They may cause you distress or embarrassment if disclosed.  If you do feel distress from answering any of these questions, we invite you to consult this list of resources. You’ll find links to health and wellness services, including a very helpful link to Carleton’s Resource Library.

Confidentiality and Data Storage:

The data we collect will be anonymous unless you identify yourself within your responses. If you do so we will treat your personal information as confidential. No information that discloses your identity will be released or published without your specific consent.  Research records may be accessed by the Carleton University Research Ethics Board in order to ensure continuing ethics compliance.

Your data will be stored on Carleton University’s servers, located in Canada. Though unlikely, your responses may be disclosed via a court order or data breach.

The results of this study may be published in academic journals, presented at conferences, and/or referenced to in other forms of writing we may do as a collective such as blog posts and tweets. Data will be presented so that it will not be possible to identify you, unless you expressly indicate you would like to be identified.  All research data will be password-protected during analysis. Post-analysis, data will be kept on password-protected, encrypted USBs.

After the study is completed, we will retain your anonymized data for future research use.

Sharing Study Results:

If you would like to receive a summary of our findings, you may opt to share your email address with us. You will see a prompt towards the end of the questionnaire. Your email address will be de-linked from your questionnaire responses prior to analysis and stored in a separate file.

Questionnaire

February 2020: We have paused data collection for the time being. Please check back for updates.