Gender differences in impostor phenomenon: A meta-analytic review

Abstract

The present study was a meta-analysis of research on female-male gender differences in impostor phenomenon—the tendency for high-achieving people to feel like “impostors” who are undeserving of their success. Although it was originally suggested that women experience impostor phenomenon more frequently and intensely than men do, the results of empirical research have been mixed, and contradictory claims appear throughout the literature. The present research shows, however, that the original suggestion is correct. Across 115 effect sizes and over 40 thousand participants, women scored higher than men with a mean effect size (Cohen's d) of 0.27. There was no evidence that this difference has decreased over time, but there was evidence that it varies across fields, that it is smaller in studies conducted in Asia than in studies conducted in Europe and North America, and that it is smaller in studies that use the Harvey Impostor Scale than studies that use the more common Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale. These results have important implications for research on gender differences in the impostor phenomenon, and research on the impostor phenomenon more generally.