Professional Development Workshop: Belonging and Success in Work Settings 

Imposter syndrome and burnout negatively impact emotional well-being and impact how people interact in professional settings. Imposter syndrome is a condition where one experiences anxiety that others will see them as a fraud, despite evidence of belonging and success. Relatedly, burnout is caused by structural workplace factors and can lead to emotional exhaustion, cynicism toward work, and depersonalization in relation to work. 

The Professional Development workshop on Academic Burnout and Imposter Syndrome featured the expertise of assistant professor of psychology Danielle King (Rice University), who studies resilience and identity in the workplace, and psychology professor and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Kecia Thomas (University of Alabama at Birmingham), who researches the psychology of workplace diversity. 

Throughout the workshop, King and Thomas shared advice based on anecdotes from their own experiences navigating academic systems and the tips they use to persist and sustain their well-being.  

One strategy that King offered is “emotional acceptance and not beating myself up for feeling burnt out, but acknowledging this is where I am. This is what I’m feeling, accepting it, and giving myself grace to say, ‘OK, this is where we are.”  

Thomas reminded workshop attendees that these phenomena exist within a larger organizational and environmental context. “It is very important to also look at the systems around us and the role that they play in our experiences because we’re not living in a vacuum,” she said. “We’re showing up in these contexts and the onus is both on us and our environment to help facilitate and make resilience possible.”  

APS members and registered attendees can now view the full video to learn best practices for sustaining and supporting yourself during hard times.