Impostor syndrome is the combination of unrelenting standards for yourself, and feeling like you're an intellectual fake. There have been many talks that focus on changing the person who experiences impostor syndrome. But there are few resources for how the free software community can support people who experience impostor syndrome. How do we encourage new free software contributors who are struggling with impostor syndrome? How do we acknowledge the work of community members in a way that doesn't trigger the impostor syndrome feelings of "I'm not good enough"? How can free software communities change the culture that creates and perpetuates impostor syndrome?

1. Countering
Impostor Syndrome
Culture
CC-BY-SA 4.0
Sage Sharp @_sagesharp_
they/them pronouns

2. What is impostor syndrome?
First coined in 1978
"internal experience of intellectual phoniness in
people who believe that they are not intelligent,
capable or creative despite evidence of high
achievement."

3. How do I experience impostor syndrome?
● High standards for myself
● Hard to internalize praise
● Negatively impacted by misogyny
CC-BY 2.0 Jason Taellious

4. People from marginalized groups
often experience impostor syndrome
CC-BY 2.0 Caitlin Regan

5. Countering
Bias
What free software
projects are you
working on?
Are you a designer?
Whoa, you're a
programmer?!?
CC-BY 2.0 Women in Tech ChatCC-BY 2.0 marissa anderson

6. Representation
●
Default avatars / user pictures
●
Influential community leaders
●
Accessible software
●
Anti-harassment features
●
Saying no to surveillance
●
Software serving the needs
of marginalized groups
CC-BY 4.0 Disabled And Here

7. Paid software development
●
80% of jobs aren't advertised
●
75% of White Americans
don't have Black friends
●
Who gets hired?
●
Diversify your network
●
Who gets hired in what roles?
https://www.collegerecruiter.com/blog/2013/03/28/80-of-job-openings-are-unadvertised/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/08/25/three-quarters-of-
whites-dont-have-any-non-white-friends/
CC-BY 2.0 Greentech media

8. quote tweet by sailor mercury: "i think tech needs to take a hard look at why it's most comfortable with
underrepresented people in a beginner role"
Tracy Chou: "my experiences starting as female eng in industry were that coworkers were very nice and
happy to help when they could think of me as confused and clueless. i improved quickly though and then
some people started getting really resentful. openly questioning job offers i got, telling me i bragged too
much."https://twitter.com/i/web/status/931295049337356288

9. Internal impact of impostor syndrome
● All your accomplishments? Luck.
● Don't brag. They'll tear you down.
● Everyone knows more than you.
● What if they figure out you're not smart?
CC-BY 2.0 PlusLexia.com

10. External impact of impostor syndrome
● Hesitant to ask questions
● Downplays accomplishments
● Humble or low confidence
● Everything must be perfect
● "Thank you" => criticize their work

11. Countering Impostor Syndrome Culture:
"Don't ask questions"
CC-BY 2.0 Marco Bellucci

12. Why don't people like asking questions?
● "RTFM"
● "google it"
● "everyone knows..."
● "you don't know X?!?"
(feigning surprise)
● technical language
CC-BY 2.0 Jeff Peterson

13. A technical writing student at a university recently submitted a pull request to the Outreachy
website. I declined to take it as is, but it's indicative of why technical language culture is toxic:
Update ReadMe.md
Pull request by DerekRoy on Nov 7 2018
Changes to the document to improve flow, and clear up ambiguity:
- Occurrences of you and your were removed to increase authority
- Ambiguous sayings like "can", "maybe", and other unsure language were rephrased
- It was removed where possible and replaced with more informative words
- We and our was cut down to make the document more formal
- All contractions were expanded for clarity and formality
- Sentences were restructured to be more active and eliminate passive voice

14. "Technical language" turns us into frauds
We don't admit when:
● our project is hard to use
● our project is incomplete
● our contribution is wrong
● we're not a subject expert
● we get stuck
CC-BY 2.0 www.gotcredit.com

15. This is a lie that we encourage newcomers to
accept, because it allows established
contributors to continue to be the expert, for our
projects to be perfect, for our documentation to
always be up to date.
Countering Impostor Syndrome Culture:
"If you're confused, it's your fault"
CC-BY 2.0 DaveBleasdale

16. Solution: Model uncertainty when
you're unsure...
● A technical decision is right?
● A contribution is incomplete?
● Documentation is incorrect?
● What a concept means?
CC BY-SA 2.0 CollegeDegrees360

17. Solution: Normalize asking questions
● Promote links to help forums/chat
● Have a welcome committee to handle questions
● Instead of "Do you have any questions?"
ask "What questions do you have?"

18. Countering Impostor Syndrome Culture:
"Everything is effortless for everyone else"
CC0 Pascal

19. We often praise static characteristics
● smart
● intelligent
● good developer
● great talk
● good speaker
CC-BY 2.0 F Delventhal

20. What happens when you praise static
characteristics?
• "You're so smart!"
• I'm smart if I don't
have to put in effort
●
Am I not smart?
●
Hide when I'm
struggling
CC-BY-SA 2.0 Eric SavageCC-BY 2.0 Eric Sonstroem

21. Praise effort and growth
● Time spent researching
● Effort in rough drafts
● Reaching out to get help or review
● Improving contribution quality
● Make the process of labor
more visible CC-BY 2.0 Ray_LAC

22. Creating a culture to praise effort
● Share resources and tutorials
● Reference previous drafts
● Link to discussions
● Credit people you learn from
● Acknowledge reviewers
● Thank issue reporters
CC-BY 2.0 Orin Zebes

23. Praise effort over titles
●
Introductions "Farrah is a Linux kernel developer"
●
Titles => self-criticism
●
Instead:
– Most recent big project
– Passionate about X
– Worked for Y years doing Z
CC-BY-SA 2.0 Hugh Llewelyn

24. Countering Impostor Syndrome Culture:
"Be humble"
CC-BY-SA 2.0 amboo who?

25. Reflex on being thanked
● "Thanks! That was a great talk.
You're such a good speaker."

26. Reflex on being thanked
● "Thanks! That was a great talk.
You're such a good speaker."
CC-BY 2.0 Bart Everson

27. Giving Praise?
Focus on your feelings
● Use "I appreciate" or "I feel" instead of "thanks"
● Can't argue with someone's feelings
● "I found your talk really insightful"
● Not praising "perfection"
● Sharing a feeling of joy or delight

28. Countering Impostor Syndrome Culture
● Challenge your bias on who is a "real contributor"
● Diversify your network & leadership
● Model uncertainty
● Make labor more visible
● Ask "What questions do you have?"
● Praise effort and growth
● Use "I appreciate" or "I feel"

29. Thanks!
Sage Sharp <sharp@otter.technology>
Twitter: @_sagesharp_ or @ottertechllc
Effort this talk took:
● 37 hours to prep slides
● Presented once before at FOSDEM 2019
● 5 months of ideas noodling around my head

30. Resources
"Overcoming Impostor Syndrome" - LCA 2013 by Denise
Paolucci - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZg9rax-ky4
Values worksheet to combat impostor syndrome by Leigh
Honeywell - https://github.com/hypatia/virtuoso/