Construction and initial validation of an academic impostor syndrome measure

Impostor syndrome has been identified as a growing problem in professional and academic settings. It has been associated with diminished confidence and inhibited performance. In the context of education, it has been reported as maladaptive to enrolment, retention, integration, wellbeing, and academic performance. One inhibiting factor is the lack of validated measures specific to education. Hence, the primary aim and original contribution of this study is the construction and initial validation of such a measure. This construction process was initially informed by a trawl of the literature on general impostor syndrome, with ten domains emerging from the reviews to provide content validity. Items were constructed in consultation with students as end users and academics from national and international symposia and seminars. The studies were carried out at two UK higher education institutions, with N = 339 undergraduates. Through iterative processes including item analysis, principal component analysis, and factor analyses, ten items were selected from a pool of thirty. These covered the ten literature domains and associated with good factor loadings (> 0.45) and sound model fit indicators. Invariance testing of both student groups demonstrated equivalence of factor structure and factor loadings. To enhance the measure’s validity, the Five-Factor Model of Personality, Self-esteem, and Self-efficacy were included. The moderate correlations of these factors with academic impostor syndrome in expected directions may respectively signpost the approach and avoidance behaviours that counter or nurture the problem. The new measure is commended as a potentially useful tool for research and practice.