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Poetic Narratives for Midcareer Women Leading through Impostor Phenomenon
Keywords
impostor phenomenon; leadership; poetic narrative
Session Abstract
Midcareer women leaders recognize and navigate through feelings of impostorship and patriarchal barriers for their own success. From this poststructural feminist study, findings are shared through poetic narratives, help us to "navigate to the wellness I need." The women's voices are aggregated and respresentative of the struggle with Impostor Phenomenon.
Session Description
Women in midlife have life achievements that are meaningful and a wealth of knowledge and expertise. They are often in the strongest part of their career, mature enough to be the expert in their profession, giving back by mentoring and networking with others, and not ready to retire. They also have a high level of emotional intelligence and can make meaning of their experiences through multiple lenses (Reynolds, 2010), yet still struggle with the impostor phenomenon. We also recognized that some women 40-55 years old may not feel as though their experiences are highly valued or are meaningful enough to share with others and that many women have had to suffer within the confines of social expectations or be punished for moving beyond or outside of the roles generally expected of women (Calhoun, 2020). Therefore, we were curious as to whether these women still struggled with the impostor phenomenon and how they were able to overcome these feelings to become leaders in their field.