Competence Challenges vs. Confidence Challenges: Exploring Tools for Combatting Impostor Syndrome

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Session Type: Concurrent Sessions

Session Capacity: N/A

Hotel: N/A

Room: Plaza B

Floor: Lobby Level

Impostor Syndrome is the feeling that we are not cut out for the work we are doing, or want to be doing, combined with a fear of being discovered as a fraud. This lack of intellectual/competency belonging is a pervasive phenomenon in high-achieving populations (such as the legal industry) that influences how we engage with peers, clients, and superiors; how we assess our abilities and contributions; how we respond to feedback; how we maintain our wellness and retention in the profession; and whether we seize professional opportunities. The limiting effects of these beliefs and perceptions may be particularly acute for diverse law students and/or those who are first-generation professionals, for whom there may not be ready mentors or accessible role models to provide a reality check. Clinical and externship faculty are well-poised to identify, interrupt, and address Impostor Syndrome in our students: while our practically-oriented approach exposes students to the myriad realities of practice and provides them with tools for navigating various settings, so too does our pedagogy require that we regularly engage and reflect with them. As a byproduct of this arrangement, we can create a comfortable space in which students (even those whose self-doubt may make them reluctant to engage) can share with us their perspectives, concerns, and vulnerabilities.
This actionable and interactive session will offer a legal education-grounded, cross-disciplinary exploration of how our students’ self-doubt can manifest in classroom and field settings (including the limiting effects these feelings and perceptions have on the learning process), and explore the role that clinical and externship faculty can play in identifying and disrupting Impostor Syndrome through evidence-based tactics and tools to help students shift to a more confident, growth-oriented mindset.