‘I wanna make my parents proud rather than I wanna make myself proud’ imposter phenomenon among South Asian undergraduate students

‘Imposter syndrome’ (or ‘imposterism' and ‘imposter feelings') refers to the belief that one’s achievements are a result of luck or fluke, rather than effort or talent. Studies that show up to 70% of university students experience imposter syndrome, which is more pronounced in minoritised students. However, despite research examining racially and ethnically minoritised students, there is currently a lack of literature considering the South Asian population. It is important to explore minoritised groups separately, to understand the unique cultural pressures that groups experience. Therefore, we explored the imposter syndrome experiences of South Asian undergraduate students, using semi-structured interviews ( n = 10). Our analysis generated three themes: (1) experiences of ‘academic othering’, whereby students experience prejudice from other students that hinders their academic experiences, (2) feelings of ‘culturally ascribed perfectionism’, which refers to pressures to attain academic excellence, typically from family members, and (3) a perceived need for ‘academic humility’, in which participants detect a cultural need to downplay their academic achievements. These themes are paradoxical; while students reported cultural pressure to perform highly academically, they also noted cultural pressures to minimise their achievements. Implications for equitable practice and policy in Higher Education are discussed.