Tag Archives: research

Tutorial 8/11

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Before my tutorial I had emailed David two questions :

  1. I’ve been asking in my interviews with male working class students about imposter syndrome and if they feel that they experience it. Mostly they have said no but then what they’ve said about the way they feel are symptoms of imposter syndrome. Research I’ve read says that this is something that women suffer from (I hate using the word suffer here but it fits for now) so I’ve found research that makes the case for keeping my question focused on female students but I’m confused. 
  2. Do you have any tips for keeping the report within the word limit?

The answer to the first one was simple when David explained it in a different way. I am a woman. Men are even less likely to open up to me than they are to other men. Working class men are stereotypically proud, and opening up about their feelings of being not good enough is very unlikely. David gave the example of men drinking in the pub – they don’t talk about their feelings until they are a few pints deep, and then it’s like a floodgate opens and they won’t stop talking about how they feel. He suggested a change of approach might be needed if I want honest answers from the men I’ve spoken to, eg. a Likert scale follow up survey. This would allow me to compare the answers I was given in person versus the answers given without my presence. I like this idea and I will be writing a Likert scale survey this afternoon.

The second question had a very nuanced answer. I have to admit that I have been rambling in the rewrite of my report and the introduction and methodology sections keep growing!! It wasn’t until David explained why it’s called an evaluative report that the penny finally dropped. Value is in the name of the report and that’s exactly what I need to demonstrate in my report – why does my research have value? Everything I write should be illustrating why my research has value and if it doesn’t show that, then it won’t be included.

Action Points

  • Start rewriting my report (again) with the aim of showing the value in my research ✔️
  • Write Likert scale survey and send to my male interviewees ✔️
  • Change my question to take ‘female’ out of it. The discussion about why male students are unlikely to open up to me has showed me just why they should be included in my research ✔️
  • Think of questions I have for David for our last tutorial. I don’t want to waste his time by not asking questions and regretting it later

Branching Out

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In my tutorial last week, David mentioned potentially including some male stakeholders. I had been conducting a few interviews with male working class students but it hadn’t really been my focus.

And then in class Zuleika gave us a refresher lesson on bias, and overcoming it. And I realised that although I had been conducting my research with the best of intentions, my bias had been showing. And it was holding me back, and potentially stunting my research. And whilst I doubt that many men will open up to me and admit to feeling any other way apart from confident, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t include them in my research.
The majority of academic papers on imposter syndrome talk about women, however a study in Quartz says that actually men are experiencing imposter syndrome more than women.

“I first learned about this two years ago, when my editor at the time asked me to write on the subject. Instead of feeling understood or validated, I felt defensive. It had never occurred to me to look around my male dominated industry and worry that I didn’t belong; the notion that I should relate to imposter syndrome seemed to imply that I deserved to feel like a fraud. As I started to report the article, I worried that not suffering from imposter syndrome would be interpreted as a sign of arrogance. This concern, it turns out, is well-founded. Contrary to stereotypes, research suggests women are as confident as men—they are just penalized rather than rewarded for the same self-assured behavior.“

The article goes on to mention something called the Imposter Phenomenon Scale. I find it interesting that it is named after the original name for imposter syndrome and this supports the argument to stop pathologising it and calling it a ‘syndrome’.

“Overall, women self-reported more imposter syndrome according to the scale. But the researchers found that men experienced more stress both when getting negative feedback and when told their results would be shared with the professor. “Collectively, our findings suggest that male IPs [imposters] fair worse when confronted with performance cues than do female impostors,” the authors wrote. “Male IPs experienced greater anxiety after receiving negative feedback and under conditions of high accountability than did female IPs, and exhibited less effort and poorer performance on a task when held accountable to a higher authority.

Conversation around imposter syndrome has always been gendered. But its balance has been slowly shifting over the past few decades. The condition was first identified in 1978 by two clinical psychologists, whose study only focused on women. In the years since, gender-related data on the subject have been mixed. Some have found that women do experience more imposter syndrome, while others have found no correlation.“

I find this paragraph particularly interesting – in the course of my research I have searched for imposter syndrome numerous times, both on Google Scholar, in the library and just regular Google search. Every time, the top results mention women. Therefore I don’t think I agree with the statement about the discussion around imposter syndrome becoming less gendered. Hypothetically, if a male student was searching for information on imposter syndrome, and saw that the first 10 results were about women overcoming imposter syndrome, he might feel even more alienated or alone. However, that isn’t to say that men don’t feel like imposters in education or the workplace.

I also think there is a problem with women telling other women that they are suffering from imposter syndrome. But how do they actually know? In a room full of women, they are all going to have different feelings. And yes, there might be a big proportion of them who feel like imposters but you can’t assume. At a lot of conferences targeted at women, there generally is a class or a talk about overcoming imposter syndrome. I’ve not seen anything similar at conferences I’ve found that are aimed at men.

https://qz.com/1296783/it-turns-out-men-not-women-suffer-more-from-imposter-syndrome

Fourth Intervention

Interventions, My Project, ,

I decided to accept David’s challenge to move into video and I made a video using quotes from interviews I had already conducted. I watched the video with some of my stakeholders. I wanted to see their reactions to seeing their own words back, and if they found it comfortable/uncomfortable.

https://youtube.com/shorts/85_OY_9ommQ?feature=share

I chose to watch it alongside them to pick up on their body language and facial expressions, as sometimes they are more telling than the words that people say. Whilst I think this intervention was successful I think that I can do better. Using stakeholders that I had already used was in hindsight, a mistake. I think that this would have had more impact if I had shown it to people who hadn’t been involved in my project up to this point. I think I could have also shared this video on social media from the outset, something which I have now done in the hopes of gaining more widespread feedback from people I’ve not yet spoken to.

Because this was my first video, it is very short. I used this video as an experiment into video editing and after this video I taught myself how to use Final Cut Pro so that videos I make moving forwards are longer, more professional and easier to watch.

*Feedback from participants*

“It would have been more powerful to hear our voices back. I think it would have had more impact.”

“I felt uncomfortable because the beads were such happy colours in the video, mixed with not happy statements. But I liked it.”

“A longer video would have been good, but I liked the length of this too. It was like watching a TikTok video.”

Summary

Looking back on this intervention, I don’t feel that it was overly successful. Whilst I shared the quotes from stakeholders, I’m not sure this was a good way to answer my research question, and empower working class students to overcome feelings of being an imposter.

“Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome”

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In the course of my research into imposter syndrome, I came across this article by the Harvard Business Review. The article by Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey aims to persuade its readers that what we now call imposter syndrome doesn’t actually exist.

They write about how when this idea was first written about in 1978, it was referred to as ‘imposter phenomenon’ by Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes, the psychologists who conducted a study of high powered professional women and discovered this issue. The authors of this article go on to point out that this study left out a lot of women such as women of colour, and people of various income levels, genders and professional backgrounds. Further in the article they point out that white men who feel some level of not belonging in their workplace soon find a role model and overcome these feelings, through their work being validated. However the same can’t be said for women, and at most professional development conferences aimed at women, there is 9/10 times a talk on overcoming imposter syndrome.

The word syndrome, in the opinion of the authors, takes us back to when women were diagnosed with hysteria in the 19th Century. It is pointed out that women are said to ‘suffer’ with imposter syndrome, rather than just experiencing it.

“Even if women demonstrate strength, ambition and resilience, our daily battles with microaggressions, especially expectations and assumptions formed by stereotypes and racism often push us down. Imposter syndrome as a concept fails to capture this dynamic and puts the onus on women to deal with the effects.” I think this quote is interesting because it goes back to what they were saying about workshops given to women about overcoming imposter syndrome, instead of talking to the institutions that are causing women to feel this way. However, I think this is a problematic stance to take – in my opinion it’s not an all or nothing situation. You can’t expect companies to change overnight and take away the things that are causing women to experience imposter syndrome, and you can’t expect women to just learn how to deal with these feelings. This is something I was struggling with in my own research project and reading this article has made me very happy that I changed my question and my viewpoint.

“In truth, we don’t belong because we were never supposed to belong. Our presence in most of these spaces is a result of decades of grassroots activism and begrudgingly developed legislation. Academic institutions and corporations are still mired in the cultural inertia of the good ol’ boys’ club and white supremacy. Biased practices across institutions routinely stymie the ability of individuals from underrepresented groups to truly thrive.” After reading this paragraph, I had to take a minute to think it over and form my opinion. This sounds dramatic, but I was honestly taken aback. I can’t speak for people of colour and I don’t want to. But this paragraph seems to imply, to me, that imposter syndrome is somewhat caused by white supremacy.

Overall I think this article was very interesting to read. But I disagree with a lot of what is written. A lot of the time it is women telling other women that they have imposter syndrome ; some women have made a career from doing this, talking at conferences and writing books. This article comes across as quite biased, in my opinion, and saying that imposter syndrome “is especially prevalent in biased, toxic cultures that value individualism and overwork” is unfair. I would say that this article is full of attribution bias and isn’t a particularly balanced article to read.

“Empowered”

My Project, , , , ,

After changing my question and adding ’empowered’ into it, I decided to do some research into what being empowered means.

This screenshot from Cambridge Dictionary online gives two definitions and uses. I find it interesting that the example sentence for the first meaning talks about girls being empowered. Why not just people in general? Does this imply that it’s only women who need to work on feeling empowered?

I decided that this warranted some further research in the hopes of answering my questions but also gaining further insight into how empowerment is viewed.

The main part of the word is ‘power’ – Liz Kelly (1992) observed “I suspect it is ‘power to’ that the term empowerment refers to, and it is achieved by increasing one’s ability to resist and challenge power over”. Using this meaning, my question would essentially mean ‘how can female working class students have (or find?) the power to overcome their feelings of imposter syndrome in an arts education environment?’

According to an article written in 1995 by Jo Rowlands, there are three types of empowerment:

Personal : where empowerment is about developing a sense of self and individual confidence and capacity, and undoing the effects of internalised oppression.

Close relationships : where empowerment is about developing the ability to negotiate and influence the nature of the relationship and decisions made within it.

Collective : where individuals work together to achieve a more extensive impact than each could have alone. This includes involvement in political structures, but might also cover collective action based on cooperation rather than competition. Collective action may be locally focused for example, at village or neighbourhood level or institutional, such as national networks or the United Nations.

For my project I am talking about maybe the first and third types of empowerment more particularly. Unless students consider themselves to be in a relationship of sorts with their university, which doesn’t seem likely.

From searching for articles about empowerment in journals, I have observed that a lot of them are focused towards empowering women in the workplace or in society in general. These articles have been dated as far back as the 1990s so the topic of empowerment clearly isn’t just a current issue.

Rowlands, J. (1995). Empowerment examined. Development in Practice, 5(2), pp.101–107. doi:10.1080/0961452951000157074.

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Tutorial 24/10 and a new question

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I went into today’s tutorial knowing that my question had to change. I didn’t know how but I knew it had to happen.

So how did I go from ‘how can arts universities better support female students from working class backgrounds?’ to ‘How can female working class students be empowered to overcome their imposter syndrome in an arts education environment?’

We started our tutorial with me asking if I should flip my original question around, so that female working class students came first. We then discussed if the responsibility to solve the problem I’ve identified is solely resting on the shoulders of arts university. Which it isn’t. There needs to be a compromise with students and universities meeting each other halfway. I used the term empowered when talking about asking for support and David said that was an important term and that I should include it in my new question.

David asked me what loneliness, feeling out of place and alone are symptoms of. Eventually I got the answer right – imposter syndrome. So that got added into the question. My research project is essentially the same, I’ve just pivoted somewhat and I’m very happy I did so. I think that my previous question was expecting too much from arts universities and that was unfair. It’s unethical for universities to target a specific group of students and single them out for what could be perceived as extra support and whilst I had discovered that from my research, I think I didn’t take it on board quickly enough. I also think that it’s unfair to expect support to rain down on people who aren’t asking for it.

I think that my question is moving beyond the predictable now – my original question almost felt comfortable. Well maybe not comfortable, but it felt safe. Imposter syndrome is something that I have felt (a lot) but I don’t know a lot about it when it comes to theory or other people’s experiences.

Action points:

  • Ask about imposter syndrome in my interviews going forwards. Find out how it manifests in different students and how it makes them feel. ✔️
  • Research theories around imposter syndrome – does everyone think it exists? Are there people who argue that it isn’t a thing? ✔️
  • Read Steven D. Brookfield book – Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher ✔️
  • Get blog up to date and email links to David
  • Write report draft and send it to David by 5pm on Thursday ✔️
  • Create another video from my interviews and hopefully have an in person event to show it

Interview Transcript

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Below is a transcript of an interview I did with a student at Falmouth University. This interview was recorded with consent and transcribed by myself.

FR – Thank you for meeting with me today. I wanted to talk to you about your experiences at university. I believe you studied at both an arts specialised school and a non specific university?

RP – Yes, that’s right. I did my BA at art school and then left to go elsewhere for my MA.

FR – Was there a specific reason you made that decision?

RP – Yes and no. I honestly hated art school. I suppose I wanted a change of scenery with less pressure.

FR – Did you hate art school because of the teaching side of it or was there something else?

RP – I didn’t fit in there. I mean, I tried. But I couldn’t afford to socialise as much as I wanted and no one seemed to understand that. I came across as introverted and shy, I think and I struggled to make friends with my class mates. I was so scared of failing or being taken off the course because I didn’t come from the same background as others did.

FR – I’m sorry, that sounds like a tough experience for you. Did you ever talk to the university about how you were feeling?

RP – No I couldn’t. I was scared that they would tell me to leave if I was struggling so badly. I know that there was counselling they offered but I never took advantage of that. I didn’t want to admit that, I don’t know, I was seconding guessing everything? I love art, I really do. But being at art school felt like I was living in a pressure cooker and the lid could blow off any minute. Wow that sounded very dramatic *laughs*

FR – I understand what you mean. I think there’s an illusion of art school being glamorous and such fun. But there’s also a feeling of being like a fish out of water. At least from my perspective. Would you agree with that?

RP – Yes absolutely. I don’t know if that feeling is exclusive to students who come from poor backgrounds obviously but it’s a tough place to be if you are surrounded by people in paint covered designer clothes and you’re wearing Oxfam from head to toe.

FR – Talking about being a fish out of water, would you say that you struggled from imposter syndrome?

RP – I don’t know. I think that’s a term that is batted around a lot nowadays and has maybe lost its original meaning. But I do know that I felt like an imposter and as though I was a placeholder for the student who was meant to be there instead.

FR – So going back to your academic journey, once you’d left art school. Did you have similar feelings once you were at a generic university?

RP – I knew you’d ask me that. And honestly, I didn’t. I saw a lot more students that sounded like me and were also working two jobs to pay their tuition. And honestly, people were a lot more open about their lives and where they came from.

FR – That’s interesting. I wonder why that is. Do you have any thoughts?

RP – I have a theory.

FR – Would you be willing to share it with me?

RP – Absolutely. Art school is high pressure, as I mentioned earlier. There’s an expectation that you’ll do your degree and form amazing connections that will set up a career once you’re done. But a normal university? There are so many varied courses, and it mirrors society more. You’re not trapped in a building full of artistic temperaments.

FR – I’ve never thought about how a non – specialised university mirrors society. That’s really interesting! Thank you so much for your time today.

RP – You’re welcome. Good luck with your project.

This interview was very interesting to me. The thing that I found the most interesting was that this student studied at an arts institution and then made the decision to do their MA at a non arts based university.
After conducting this interview I endeavoured to find out if there was a way I could find out how many students study at an art school and then leave that environment to carry on their education, studying a creative subject in a ‘normal’ university. However, I couldn’t find any figures around this – maybe I was searching for the wrong thing or in the wrong places. But the more likely answer is that data around this isn’t collected or is unavailable to view if it is. There is data around retention rates of students, however it doesn’t tell you where the leaving students go so I didn’t find this helpful.

Another thing that struck me about this conversation is that this student was reluctant to say that they experience imposter syndrome but would say they feel like an imposter. I also found it interesting how this feeling went away once they were studying outside of an arts education environment.

Uni Connect

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When I was last at my volunteering job, I got into conversation with a lady who works in the EDI department at Demontfort University in Leicester. I was telling her about my research and she suggested that I look at a scheme called Uni Connect that the other university in Leicester is part of.

There are currently 29 universities taking part in this scheme, spread all over England. None of the universities taking part specialise in the arts which I find interesting. Historically there has been a big push directing young people from underrepresented groups to STEM subjects and I have been unable to find any evidence of something similar for the arts. I am curious as to why there are no arts based universities on this list as diversity within the arts is something that is very topical.

I find it very interesting that there is targeted outreach as part of this scheme, as I have been told by multiple people that universities can’t target a specific group of people because it’s unethical. I suppose the difference is the context?

As you can see from this image, the funding amounts fluctuates. However the funding is dependent on how many learners are in each area so this difference in amounts of funding makes sense. I think it is important to note that in the majority of areas, the amount of funding being accessed has decreased in the last 2 years. Perhaps this is a knock on effect from Covid.

https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/promoting-equal-opportunities/uni-connect/

Next Intervention

Interventions, , , , ,

I will be the first person to admit that it’s been too long since my last intervention but with David’s help I’ve figured out what I want to do. My last intervention I asked a very small group of stakeholders what ‘working class’ means to them and I was struggling to see what the next iteration would be.

But… Now I have a plan.

Before I conduct interviews that I am going to *hopefully* video, I plan to make a video using quotes from the interviews I’ve already done. I didn’t record the interviews visually, but I do have direct quotes from the stakeholders I’ve spoken to. I plan to hold an online viewing party for this video, just to gauge if that works. This viewing party will be on October 21st and I have sent an invite to 10 stakeholders that I’ve already spoken to.

Why video?

Well, my background is in photography and I could take photos and make an exhibition. But something about letting my stakeholders words be heard feels right to me and I think that if I’m talking to all of these women then I should help their voices be heard. A lot of the stakeholders I’ve spoken to so far have spoken about how they feel invisible and a video is a way to overcome that, potentially. I think that this intervention will help me figure out how exactly my question needs to change/pivot.

IG Research

Inspiration, My Project, , ,

I was mindlessly scrolling on Instagram and found myself flicking through the @ualmemes story where they had asked for the top three things people had learnt at UAL. Obviously all the submissions were anonymous but I found these two answers interesting in the context of my project.

It made me curious as to whether these two respondents would say the same things if they were asked this question face to face. There is an element of comfort in anonymity online, and according to a paper written by Kimberly M. Christopherson, “Individuals can use their anonymity to almost become a different person without fear of being identified and negatively evaluated by those they know. This factor may lead to an extreme sense of freedom for the individual and allow him or her to engage in behaviors typically disapproved of by others without fear of the consequences that may ensue as a result.”

Christopherson, K.M. (2007). The positive and negative implications of anonymity in Internet social interactions: ‘On the Internet, Nobody Knows You’re a Dog’. Computers in Human Behavior, 23(6), pp.3038–3056. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2006.09.001.

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