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Cited by 118Critical Race Theory in EducationRacial and Ethnic Identity ResearchCareer Development and Diversity

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 73 of the 75 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Racism camouflaged as impostorism and the impact on Black STEM doctoral students

Open access
McGee, Ebony O., Botchway, Portia K., Naphan-Kingery, Dara E., Brockman, Amanda J., Houston, Stacey, White, Devin T.·2022·Race Ethnicity and Education
DOI 10.1080/13613324.2021.1924137
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Abstract

Black doctoral students in engineering and computing fields experience racialized stress, as structural racism in STEM takes a toll on their sense of belonging and acceptance as intellectually competent in comparison to White and some Asian peers and faculty. Black doctoral students are often told by campus administrators that the source of this racialized stress is impostorism and it is curable. In this article, we employ phenomenological analysis to examine how 54 Black engineering and computing students experience racism marketed as impostor syndrome (syndrome meaning in their heads). Results show that 51 of our study participants understood their experiences as both impostorism and racism, as some realized that racism created the conditions for being racially positioned as an impostor. We problematize impostorism peddled by campus administrators as a cover for racism, once again placing onus on students and claiming they have irrational but curable behaviors, while institutional and individual racism in STEM runs rampant by design.

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Citations

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Show all 75 references

Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. 10.1353/jhe.2015.0034 · DOI
  2. Herrera, Felisha A., and Sylvia Hurtado. 2011. Developing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Career Aspirations among Underrepresented Racial Minority Students. Los Angeles, CA: Higher Education Research Institute.
  3. Landis Amy E. “Proposal to Graduate School Faculty Fellows Program 2016-2017 Professional Development for Graduate Women: Empowering Women to Overcome the Impostor Syndrome Combat Communication Bias and Embrace Their Conative Strengths via a Series of Workshops Submitted By.” https://130.127.204.30/graduate/files/pdfs/gff_landis.pdf
  4. McGee, Ebony O., and David Stovall. 2016. “Reimagining Critical Race Theory in Education: Mental Health, Healing, and the Pathway to Liberatory Praxis.” Republished as the Center- Piece Article in the Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy (2015-16) 44: 41–60.
  5. McGee, Ebony Omotola. 2020a. Black, Brown, Bruised: How Racialized STEM Education Stifles Innovation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
  6. Roy, Joseph. 2019. “Engineering by the numbers.„ In American Society for Engineering Education, 1–40.
  7. Young, Valerie. 2011. The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women: Why Capable People Suffer from the Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It. New York: Crown.
  8. Zweben, Stewart, and Betsy Bizot. 2011-2019. 2011-2019 Taulbee Survey Report. Washington, D.C.: Computer Research Associtation. https://cra.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2015-Taulbee-Survey.pdf

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Metadata

Authors
McGee, E. O., Botchway, P. K., Naphan-Kingery, D. E., Brockman, A. J., Houston, S., & White, D. T.
Affiliations
  • Vanderbilt University (US)
  • Western New Mexico University (US)
  • George Mason University (US)
Corresponding author
McGee, Ebony O.
ORCID
Venue
Race Ethnicity and Education
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2021-05-13
Volume
25
Issue
4
Pages
487-507
ISSN
  • 1361-3324 (ISSN-L)
  • 1470-109X
DOI
10.1080/13613324.2021.1924137
OpenAlex
W3162198024
Cited by
118
References
75
Citations by year
2026: 21 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 5
FWCI
26.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
Race Ethnicity and Education (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
National Science Foundation (1361025)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Critical Race Theory in Education
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Career Development and Diversity
Keywords
impostor syndrome, Black doctoral students, engineering students, computing students, sense of belonging, structural racism, institutional racism, university administrators, Black students in higher education

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