When You Work Twice As Hard But Still Feel Like An Impostor

In 1978 a landmark study revealed that many accomplished and highly ambitious women suffered from a psychological condition coined impostor syndrome: a tendency to minimize achievements, chalk up accomplishments to luck, and hold an overwhelming fear that they will eventually be discovered as frauds. While this study was groundbreaking, it primarily focused how the impostor phenomenon manifests within educated, middle to upper class white women. This week we speak with therapist and educator Lincoln Hill about why impostor syndrome is worse for women of color, and how such studies fall short by overlooking the unique experience of being simultaneously Black and a woman in professional settings. To start this week’s show, we’re joined for hot topics by educator and mentor Shauntrice Martin, and we discuss school safety, controversial Halloween costumes for kids, and the recent revelation that all modern humans originated in Botswana on the continent of Africa.