Deindividualising Imposter Syndrome: Imposter Work among Marginalised STEMM Undergraduates in the UK

Imposter syndrome is the experience of persistently feeling like a fraud despite one’s achievements. This article explores student experiences imposter syndrome, based on 27 interviews with marginalised STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine) undergraduates at two pre-1992 elite UK universities. We argue that feelings are form unevenly distributed emotional work, which we call work. Drawing Sara Ahmed’s ‘diversity work’ concept explore how students’ often in response to, reinforced by, exclusionary atmosphere university, resulting more work to survive thrive university. Three key themes explored – situated relational nature feelings; uneven distribution work; myth individual overcoming before concluding suggestions for collective responses addressing feelings.