A study published earlier this year shows that, compared to undergraduate men, a higher percentage of undergraduate women at MIT consistently feel less capable compared to their peers, suggesting that women are more susceptible to the “impostor syndrome.” The study also suggests that this feeling of inadequacy intensifies with every year of college. What is striking is that these perceptions are far removed from reality: women at MIT have higher graduation rates and higher GPAs (even after controlling for major).
Why is it that women who consistently outperform (or are at least at par with) their male peers feel less confident about their abilities? Why have women internalized this sense of inadequacy? Is societal messaging to blame?
This is not an MIT-only phenomenon. A survey of undergraduate students at Boston College showed that female students finished college with lower self-esteem than they started with, while male students graduated with greater self-confidence than their female peers even though they had lower GPAs.
About a week ago, I attended a sexual assault awareness training through my sorority. A representative from MIT’s violence prevention and response center talked to us about the statistics and societal influences that surround the heavy topic. We reached a slide that discussed experiences at MIT; one of the topics was that someone “suggested or implied women don’t have to meet the same intellectual standards men do to get into MIT." The percentage of undergraduate women who reported hearing this message in professional settings (such as in class, at lab or at work) was 24 percent, compared to 10 percent for men. This jumps up to 48 percent for women and 33 percent for men in social settings.
A discussion began in the room: the majority of us noticed that these percentages seemed quite low — in this room full of women, almost all of us could recall being told that we didn’t deserve to be at MIT or that we were only admitted due to our gender. Someone pointed out that it was unlikely that these statements were made solely in single-gender groups — the statistics suggested that men simply noticed such comments less.
Inspired by our discussion, I asked the facilitator how all-male groups had responded to these statistics and how their discussions compared to ours. She was surprised to realize that she had never presented the information to an all-male group, only to mixed groups and all-female groups. She informed me that fraternities only do party safe training, which includes lots of information about alcohol and some training on consent — but not much beyond that.
That seemed counter-intuitive and troubling — if men are not noticing these statements, then shouldn’t they be made aware, or "trained," and be forced to think about the issue? Clearly, the attitudes are incorrect, and the negative impact on women is not to be ignored — accomplished women often don’t feel they deserve the credit.
My hope for our generation is that discussions around the topic will drive introspection among men and possibly start a cultural change. Ideally, men will recognize that women are self-selective and self-critical and that the group of women joining MIT is just as qualified and capable as their male counterparts. This will help women internalize the fact that they deserve to be at MIT, and hopefully women will in turn stop feeling as though they need to continuously prove that they are worthy of membership in the community. I’m excited to see how these views evolve with time, and I'm definitely ready to be part of the change!
Read more:
Women in academia and imposter syndrome
Quora post: Is MIT easier to get into if you're a woman?
MIT Community Attitudes on Sexual Assault Survey Summary
The Status of Undergraduate Women at MIT
