{"id":37293,"date":"2025-01-28T16:59:38","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T21:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/its-cuthemedev1.carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/?post_type=cu_story&p=37293"},"modified":"2025-03-24T15:29:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T19:29:05","slug":"harnessing-the-imposter-complex-helping-women-in-stem-to-thrive","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/story\/harnessing-the-imposter-complex-helping-women-in-stem-to-thrive\/","title":{"rendered":"Harnessing the Imposter Complex: Helping Women in STEM to Thrive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n
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\n Harnessing the Imposter Complex: Helping Women in STEM to Thrive\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n \n

Joseph Mathieu<\/em><\/p>\n \n \n

Melanie Mathieu<\/em><\/p>\n \n

If you can name it, you can tame it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the theme of the Faculty of Engineering and Design\u2019s Workshop Day<\/a>, where over 100 women students in engineering and information technology gathered on Saturday, Jan. 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The morning keynote dove deep into the most requested topic of discussion by women students: feeling like an imposter. Toronto-based Tanya Geisler\u2014a successful leadership coach, writer, teacher and podcast host\u2014introduced herself as no stranger to the feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI am a reluctant expert on the imposter complex,\u201d said Geisler. \u201cNo matter how well I did in different areas of my life, I would often chalk it up to luck, fluke, timing, or having somehow managed to convince people that I was smarter, more capable than I actually was.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Over a 20-year coaching career, she\u2019s seen it affect people across all sectors and genders. Geisler gave a TEDx talk<\/a> on the subject in 2012, in which she noted that \u201cevery high-achieving person, at one point or another, has wrestled with the imposter complex.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tanya Geisler, a Toronto-based leadership coach, writer, teacher and podcast host, pictured presenting her ICONIC framework to Workshop Day attendees.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1978, clinical psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes coined the term \u201cimpostor phenomenon\u201d that they had studied in high-functioning women, from excellent students to respected professionals. Each one seemed stuck in a similar way: all their successes were due to outside factors and all their failures were due to their own faults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data is still insufficient, said Geisler, because studies skew North American and English. The development of the concept largely excluded the effects of systemic racism, classicism, xenophobia and other biases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut who experiences imposter complex the most? It disproportionately affects those in underrepresented, systemically excluded or marginalized groups,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workshop Day was created to give women students\u2014including racialized women, women with disabilities, and Indigenous women\u2014a chance to practice soft skills and polish their resumes. It\u2019s hosted by Carleton\u2019s Women in Engineering & IT (WiE&IT) Program<\/a> and thanks to industry partners CAE<\/a> and Gastops<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Attendees engaging in the ICONIC framework discussion portion of the event, and calling one another in for moments of learning.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gastops mechanical designer Anjola Olufowobi said that she benefited from the support of senior engineers through Carleton’s WIE&IT program when she was a student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSupporting young women in STEM empowers and cultivates in them a sense of belonging and confidence,\u201d she said. \u201cThis ultimately drives innovation and inclusivity in the field.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cOur hope for young women and girls interested in STEM is that these initiatives help them see these fields as welcoming and full of opportunities,\u201d said Audrey Falcucci, CAE Manager \u2013 Collaboration with Innovation Ecosystems. \u201cBy supporting programs like these, CAE reaffirms its commitment to building a workforce that mirrors the diversity of our global community, ultimately resulting in superior products and solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heavy Expectations<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Engineering and IT students are expected to balance demanding course loads, deliver accurate results and perfect assignments, and compete for internships and co-op opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expectations on students who identify as women are even higher: they must overcome biases and challenge stereotypes in a male-dominated field. There are the social, cultural and parental expectations\u2014not to mention the pressures that young women put on themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in Geisler\u2019s expert opinion, feeling negative feelings toward oneself is actually a good sign. The imposter complex only visits those who highly value proficiency, excellence and integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Attendees holding one another accountable to show up as their most authentic selves and kick imposter syndrome out and welcome the ICONIC framework in.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou experience it because you have those values,\u201d she said. \u201cSelf-doubt is proof of your humanity, not your inadequacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geisler described how behaviours like perfectionism, procrastination, people-pleasing, and even leaky boundaries can be strengths. Simply put, they show that a person really cares. More boldly, Geisler asked her audience, \u201cwhat if these traits are your leadership edge?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you a people pleaser? That means you want everyone to feel included. If you always compare yourself to others, you are good at connecting the dots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for all the perfectionists out there? They value excellence above all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Complex to Leadership Edge<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Turning the concept on its head, Geisler encouraged her audience to think of it as the \u201ctrailblazer\u2019s complex.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you see yourself as a trailblazer, that you’re moving from problem to possibility,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd isn\u2019t that why you’re in engineering in the first place?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Attendees engaging in a Q&A session with Tanya, the keynote.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Most participants at Workshop Day\u2019s tables reported a variety of these behaviours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m just holding it together,\u201d said one. \u201cLike someone else must know what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m actually doing terrible at this,\u201d one thought during a co-op. \u201cThey\u2019re just being nice to me until I leave\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cOne insight I’m leaving with today is the fact that I’m not alone,\u201d said Abibat Oki, an Applied Business Analytics graduate student in the Technology Innovation Management program. Oki decided to join Workshop Day to hear from others about mutual challenges and to learn how to overcome them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Students participating in the CV review session, supported by industry and government organizations as well as Carleton’s very own Career Services team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cComing to Canada from Nigeria has really exposed me to things that I never knew I could do, and I’ve been able to work on some inherent weaknesses,\u201d she said. \u201cBut now that they\u2019ve been explained to us actually as strengths, I realize I need to make the best use of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geisler\u2019s workshop provided a framework to exist a negative line of thinking, and to count their wins. Not because of \u201cflukes\u201d or dumb luck, but because of hard, persistent work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018You\u2019re not ready,\u2019 is the number one lie that imposter complex tells. But no one was ever fully ready for anything they accomplished,\u201d said Geisler. \u201cThe party is on the other side of your resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joseph Mathieu Melanie Mathieu If you can name it, you can tame it. This was the theme of the Faculty of Engineering and Design\u2019s Workshop Day, where over 100 women students in engineering and information technology gathered on Saturday, Jan. 18. The morning keynote dove deep into the most requested topic of discussion by women […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37304,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[249,193,229,209,328],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-37293","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-alumni","cu_story_type-feature-stories","cu_story_type-lead-feature-story","cu_story_type-undergraduate","cu_story_type-women-in-engineering"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/37293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/37293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37308,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/37293\/revisions\/37308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=37293"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=37293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}