Women are more susceptible to imposter syndrome and therefore pursue less promotions than their male counterparts.

Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon that is “commonly understood as a false and sometimes crippling belief that one's successes are the product of luck or fraud rather than skill.” ^[1] Women are conditioned to believe that their success was not earned. For example, they may believe that they were only hired or accepted to college due to diversity quotas, or that their accomplishments in their field were flukes, or should be attributed to somebody else on their team. This results in women not having the confidence to pursue promotions or pay raises, which leads to a pay gap. Research from a 2019 Imposter Syndrome Research Study shows that “shockingly high percentages of high-achieving, confident women are routinely not speaking out about their brilliant ideas (46 per cent of respondents); not stepping up to take on projects that would let their talents shine (47 per cent); and not asking for pay rises (31 per cent) or promotions (45 per cent) they know they deserve.” ^[2] Although imposter syndrome affects both men and women, men are statistically more likely to ignore those feelings of inadequacy and not let them affect their work life.

[P1] Imposter syndrome is when a person attributes their accomplishments to luck or coincidence rather than their own abilities or intelligence. [P2] Women are more susceptible to imposter syndrome than men because women are conditioned to feel less intelligent and be less assertive. [P3] Imposter syndrome results in women feeling less confident and not taking the credit for their accomplishments or requesting pay raises.