Why is there a higher rate of impostor syndrome among BIPOC?

BIPOC, referring to ethnic minorities, are underrepresented in higher-education and workplace environments in the U.S., in comparison to their white counterparts. An inevitable effect of working in a white-dominated economy, or learning in a white-dominated education system as a minority are feelings of insecurity or self-doubt, traits that correspond with impostor syndrome (IP) (Clance and Imes, 1978). Previous research has attributed factors such as family environment/parenting style, as well as generational status, race and socioeconomic and as determinants of IP.  One goal of our research was to test and examine the correlation between the presence of IP and the familial/parental attitudes most pervasive among BIPOC parents: authoritarian parenting.  Authoritarian parenting is characterized by low emotional support and low positive reinforcement, as well as high restriction, control, and emphasis on achievement. These same circumstances have been independently observed in the familial environments of impostors. (Li, Hughes, Thu, 2014; Bussotti, 1990; Langford and Clance, 1990). Our secondary objective was to see if race, socioeconomic status, or generational status had any significant effect on impostor syndrome feelings or parenting style. We conducted a survey (N=53) to see whether or not imposter syndrome was higher among BIPOC as opposed to non-BIPOC. The implications of our survey, while providing helpful information, was not enough to draw a conclusion about whether or not race was the sole factor of higher rates of imposter syndrome. In fact, the results showed that the average scores for each question was relatively similar throughout each of the groups, with the exception of ‘African’ and ‘American Indian or Alaskan Native’ groups; however, the sample sizes of these two groups were not large enough to come up with a plausible conclusion.