TY - GEN
T1 - The Impostor Phenomenon in the Global Computing Graduate Student Population
AU - Pechenik, Caroline
AU - Zavaleta Bernuy, Angela
AU - Shah, Selina Marianna
AU - De Wit, Shirley
AU - Kolog, Emmanuel Awuni
AU - Karnalim, Oscar
AU - Farghally, Mohammed
AU - Suárez, Carlos Aníbal
AU - Parkinson, Jack
AU - Porter, Leo
AU - Duran, Rodrigo
AU - Vrbik, Paul
AU - Harrington, Brian
AU - Zhang, Lisa
AU - Liut, Michael
AU - Petersen, Andrew
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Publication rights licensed to ACM.
PY - 2025/10/21
Y1 - 2025/10/21
N2 - Several studies have confirmed that undergraduates in computing programs frequently experience the Impostor Phenomenon (IP). However, this work has largely focused on North America and Europe, and no work has evaluated graduate students in computing. This study evaluates the rate of IP experiences in graduate programs globally to determine whether rates of IP experiences are consistent and whether there are institutions or locations with lower rates of IP that might inform the development of support systems to reduce its prevalence. We perform a multi-institutional, multi-national survey-based study of 11 institutions, with at least one on every populated continent. The survey asks graduate students to complete the Clance IP scale (CIPS), which is the standard evaluation instrument for IP, as well as to answer a number of demographic questions that establish their experience level, gender, and ethnicity. We evaluate the overall level of IP experiences at each institution as well as across regions, and we explore the interaction between CIPS scores, region, and demographic factors.
AB - Several studies have confirmed that undergraduates in computing programs frequently experience the Impostor Phenomenon (IP). However, this work has largely focused on North America and Europe, and no work has evaluated graduate students in computing. This study evaluates the rate of IP experiences in graduate programs globally to determine whether rates of IP experiences are consistent and whether there are institutions or locations with lower rates of IP that might inform the development of support systems to reduce its prevalence. We perform a multi-institutional, multi-national survey-based study of 11 institutions, with at least one on every populated continent. The survey asks graduate students to complete the Clance IP scale (CIPS), which is the standard evaluation instrument for IP, as well as to answer a number of demographic questions that establish their experience level, gender, and ethnicity. We evaluate the overall level of IP experiences at each institution as well as across regions, and we explore the interaction between CIPS scores, region, and demographic factors.
KW - impostor phenomenon
KW - impostor syndrome
KW - ip
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105021397184
U2 - 10.1145/3736181.3754327
DO - 10.1145/3736181.3754327
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:105021397184
T3 - CompEd 2025 - Proceedings of the ACM Global Computing Education Conference 2025
SP - 322
EP - 331
BT - CompEd 2025 - Proceedings of the ACM Global Computing Education Conference 2025
PB - Association for Computing Machinery, Inc
T2 - 3rd ACM Global Computing Education Conference, CompEd 2025
Y2 - 21 October 2025 through 25 October 2025
ER -