Is the gender pay gap a myth?

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

Question: Is the gender pay gap a myth?
Position1 of 2›: The gender pay gap does exist
Argument1 of 3›: Women are more susceptible to imposter syndrome and therefore pursue less promotions than their male counterparts.

Women are taught to be less assertive and are more susceptible to imposter syndrome, which results in them not receiving proper recognition for their work and being too nervous to pursue promotions.

The argument

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.” 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.” 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.

Premises

[P1]Imposter syndrome is the false belief that one's success is due to luck or fraud rather than skill, and women are especially conditioned to feel it. [P2] Research shows large shares of high-achieving women therefore do not ask for the raises or promotions they deserve. [P3] Men are statistically more likely to ignore such feelings and pursue advancement anyway. [C] Therefore, because women's greater susceptibility to imposter syndrome leads them to seek fewer promotions, the gender pay gap does exist.

Counter-arguments

Sceptics reply that this argument actually locates the gap in women's own choices and confidence rather than in unequal pay for equal work — which is closer to the "myth" position's claim that the raw gap reflects differing behaviour, not discrimination. If fewer requested promotions explain part of the gap, that is a difference in outcomes driven by a psychological factor, not evidence that women are paid less for the same role. Critics also note that the imposter-syndrome framing is contested and hard to quantify, and that attributing the gap to a female-typed lack of confidence risks the very stereotyping it deplores, without showing that employers pay women less than comparable men.

Rejecting the premises

Rejecting [P2] This premise assumes that women experience imposter syndrome more than men do. Men also experience imposter syndrome, and due to patriarchal influences, might be less inclined to open up about their insecurities regarding their own success, therefore worsening the issue.