Kasvatus 2024 Vol 55 No 3

The term impostor syndrome refers to a mindset in which individuals perceive themselves as less competent than they truly are.Impostors typically excel in their studies and work, garnering recognition from others, yet they themselves consider their success merely the result of giving the impression of competence.In this article, we ask the following research questions: 1.To what extent does impostor syndrome occur among Finnish university students?2. Are some of them more prone to experiencing uncertainty about their abilities?We pay particular attention to whether the experiences of uncertainty and attitudes indicative of the impostor syndrome are related to the students' social class, gender, and age.We utilized data from a 2022 electronic survey, the sample size of which was 4994.We interpret impostor syndrome as a phenomenon related to the interplay between educational and societal demands and the habitus shaped by individual life experiences.According to the results, approximately one in four of the respondents in our survey experienced strong impostor feelings.The strongest impostor feelings were reported by some of the non-binary individuals and women, those from low-income working-class backgrounds, and the youngest students.On the other hand, the individuals aged 40 + and the students identifying themselves with an upper-class background reported the least impostor feelings.Impostor syndrome can be alleviated through individual-focused methods, with which, however, the actual problem cannot be eliminated, since impostor syndrome is more of a logical reaction to the educational demands of a society that emphasizes competition, comparison, and performance measurement.