RDEL #30: How does imposter syndrome impact developer productivity?
This week we review the frequency and impact of imposter syndrome in software engineering.
Welcome back to Research-Driven Engineering Leadership. Each week, we pose an interesting topic in engineering leadership, and apply the latest research in the field to drive to an answer.
This week we dive into imposter syndrome, a widely-studied phenomenon that is common across any industry, including software development. It’s well-understood that imposter syndrome impacts people’s perception of their success and can impact well-being, mental health, and eventually performance. This week we ask: how does imposter syndrome impact developer productivity?
The context
Imposter syndrome, or imposter phenomenon, refers to an individual’s feelings of self-doubt of intellect, skills, or accomplishments. It is especially common of high-achieving people, who cannot internalize their success and subsequently experience pervasive feelings of self-doubt, anxiety, and depression.
Software engineering is a cognitively challenging role with high impact in an organization. Therefore it is reasonable to imagine that the high-achieving individuals who take on this role might experience imposter syndrome. To dig into this, we focus this week’s RDEL on the prevalence of imposter syndrome in software engineering, as well as the impact on developer productivity.
The research
Researchers studied the impact of the imposter phenomenon in software engineers using a survey instrument that included responses from 624 software engineering professionals across 26 countries. They first asked demographic information to determine correlations for specific groups. Then, they used the CIPS scale to assess the frequency and intensity of imposter phenomenon. Finally, they used the definition of productivity provided by the SPACE framework to ask engineers how imposter phenomenon impacts their productivity.
In determining the prevalence of imposter feelings, researchers found that:
52.7% of software professionals experience frequent-to-intense levels of imposter feelings
Women showed higher proportions of imposter feelings (60.64% vs men at 48.82%)
Considering race/ethnicity, respondents with the highest frequency of imposter feelings identify as Asian (67.85%) or Black or African American (65.11%).
Individuals in technical roles feel imposter syndrome more than individuals in non-technical roles
Researchers then reviewed the impact of imposter phenomenon on perceived productivity and found that:
People with imposter felt lower productivity across all five productivity dimensions of the SPACE framework, with high statistical significance.
The application
Imposter syndrome is not just an individual problem: as the research has demonstrated, it has profound impacts on the productivity of an engineering team. Managers can play an important part in reducing imposter feelings on their team through the following ways:
Prioritize psychological safety: organizations with high psychological create environments where the team is more comfortable expressing ideas without fear of judgment. This allows the team space to experiment and learn in a “lower stakes” environment, reducing imposter feelings.
Consider mentorship programs: Engineers can often mitigate feelings of self-doubt by hearing the experiences of peers or leaders that have gone through similar experiences.
(Most importantly) Understand how the diversity of the team impacts imposter syndrome, and improve it. The researchers showed that non-majority groups experienced higher levels of imposter syndrome. It has often been seen as an “individual problem”, but professionals have since called out how systemic context contributes significantly to those outcomes. Changes to a team’s diversity, for example, are not quick - but they are extremely impactful and have a clear impact on productivity. (PS - for more on this, here is a powerful write-up on how context impacts imposter feelings)
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With that, we wish you a week of big achievements and full self-recognition of your work 👏. Happy Research Monday!
Lizzie
From the Quotient team