Coming straight out of sixth form and into an apprenticeship in PR was a rollercoaster. Having always been told I should have gone to university, having never worked in an office before and having never worked in a 9-5 position. Then came Covid, which seemed like a gigantic drop on the rollercoaster of life and my experience seemed like it had come to a halt. After only being in my apprenticeship for a few weeks, I was then told that I needed to work from home with my dining room table as my desk and my mum as my work colleague. 

Had I not already felt like an imposter with me being the only apprentice in my organisation, as well as the youngest and working in an industry I knew so little about, the isolation due to Covid-19 made the situation worse. I felt like I was not working hard enough, I was not performing to the standard I thought that I was capable of and I was not progressing in my learning. It was chronic self-doubt from my inner critic who believed that I was committing an act of intellectual fraud whenever I was praised or told I was successful. 

It was imposter syndrome. But how was I supposed to overcome it? And why did I feel like the only imposter in the world? 

Imposter Syndrome and Successful Women 

Defined as an internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others may perceive you to be; imposter syndrome is a toxic feeling of inadequacy that persists despite success. With the term being coined by two female psychologists in the 1970s, who then applied this to mainly high-achieving women, it is no surprise that it still impacts 75% of executive women1. These experiences and feelings are amplified even more for women in minority groups, who are often not represented in senior roles and face deep-rooted oppression in the corporate realm. 

Tackling Imposter Syndrome 

Understanding imposter syndrome completely and how it affects many women can help to find effective ways of tackling it. For example, I have found that researching and understanding imposter syndrome has allowed me to regularly step back and give myself the recognition I deserve. Through keeping track of my achievements, writing them down and always recording my hard work in a journal, I have been able to see my success and immerse myself in it instead of moving on to the next task or critically evaluating everything that ‘could have been better’. 

Through being consciously aware of your inner critic you can control the volume of it and you have the power to completely shut it up. 

Linear Connections and Systemic Issues

As I come to the end of my apprenticeship and begin to make the transition to a qualified practitioner, my inner critic returns. All the work I have done feels like nothing, I return to the feeling of being the biggest intellectual and professional fraudster ever. 

Women may be able to control the inner critic and prevent imposter syndrome in the role they become ‘comfortable’ in. However, at pivotal points where a woman may be transitioning in her career, imposter syndrome can be at its worst. As a result, as we get more successful we feel more like an imposter and are filled with self-doubt. 

With a linear connection between success and imposter syndrome, there is only so much self-affirming that can be done before wider, systemic issues and the culture of corporate organisations need to be evaluated.

Can imposter syndrome ever be truly tackled and diminished? Or is it a systemic issue, which can only be tackled by more women and minority groups being represented in senior roles? 

Imposter syndrome will always be prevalent but as a young woman entering an industry where only one in five women hold a senior position2, it is difficult to navigate a path without feeling like I am overreaching. My mindset is changing, but will the industry be able to change with me? 

1. Caprino, K., 2020, Imposter syndrome prevalence in professional women and how to overcome it, Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2020/10/22/impostor-syndrome-prevalence-in-professional-women-face-and-how-to-overcome-it/?sh=3ec7b79373cb
2. Bera, M., 2020, Overcoming the shortage of women leaders in PR in 2020, Agility PR. https://www.agilitypr.com/pr-news/public-relations/overcoming-the-shortage-of-women-leaders-in-pr-in-2020/#:~:text=Women%20in%20Senior%20Positions%20in%20the%20PR%20World&text=Nonetheless%2C%20only%2030%20percent%20of,of%20media%20relations%20and%20publicity.

Georgia Cantrill is the PR and Communications Assistant at Altecnic Ltd, having started her role in September 2020. As part of her role, Georgia is studying her Level 4 qualification in PR and Communications with the PRCA and is set to finish in April 2022.