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Harvey Mudd President Speaks Out About Impostoritis

As she explains in Slate, Harvey Mudd's first female president, Maria Klawe, makes a point of starting each year by telling the first-year students about impostor syndrome.

"Impostor syndrome is the frequent feeling of not deserving one’s success," Klawe writes, "and of being a failure despite a sustained record of achievements." Many highly successful people experience impostor syndrome, especially when, like female scientists and engineers, they are members of a group that is underrepresented in their profession.

Impostor syndrome is difficult to overcome entirely, Klawe says, but mentoring and encouragement can prevent it from diminishing a sufferer's success.

Read the Slate piece.

Start Date: 
Friday, May 2, 2014