LibraryScenariosHow to navigate intellectual comparison and imposter syndrome in study groups
Scenario

How to navigate intellectual comparison and imposter syndrome in study groups

Our study group started because we all felt like imposters in grad school but now it's become this weird space where we're constantly comparing who's struggling more or who's 'naturally' smarter, and I think we're actually reinforcing the exact intellectual insecurities we came together to address. Three of us are having very different experiences with feeling intelligent enough to be here and it's creating tension none of us know how to name.

Patan
Online
The coach is replying

More people experience this than they realize.

What we've seen

A support structure designed to address intellectual insecurity becomes a site for reproducing the very hierarchies it sought to heal.

Ideas that help explain it
Worth thinking about

“Where Are You with Intelligence — theories myths and measurement?”

If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.