Understanding the Imposter Phenomenon Through a Gender Equality Lens: A Systematic Literature Review on Women Employees in the Workplace

Abstract

This systematic literature review examines the imposter phenomenon among women employees through a feminist organizational perspective, reconceptualizing impostorism not as an individual confidence deficit but as an internalized manifestation of gendered organizational inequality. The imposter phenomenon, first introduced by Clance and Imes (1978), describes the internalized belief that one’s achievements result from external factors such as luck rather than competence, leading to persistent self-doubt and distorted self-perception (Rampersad et al., 2025). While the evidence included in this review indicates that women more frequently report impostor feelings than men prior reviews have largely treated this difference as a psychological tendency, with limited attention to its structural, organizational, and cultural determinants (e.g., Bravata et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2022; Parkman, 2016). The review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Data were collected from the Web of Science and Scopus databases using the keywords “imposter phenomenon,” “impostor syndrome,” and their variants. Inclusion criteria were: research articles in English indexed in SSCI, SCI-Expanded, or ESCI; addressing Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality); and available as open access. Studies involving only student samples, non-English or non–open-access papers, and unrelated reviews were excluded. A total of 26 articles met the criteria. Quality appraisal was conducted using criteria adapted from the JBI Checklist and the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Following thematic synthesis, four overarching themes were identified: (1) Antecedents individual, organizational, and sociocultural factors (e.g., perfectionism, bias, non-inclusive leadership) underlying impostorism; (2) Consequences psychological and career-related outcomes such as burnout, anxiety, and restricted advancement; (3) Coping Strategies and Interventions mentoring, peer support, and gender-sensitive leadership practices as protective mechanisms; and (4) Intersectional and Cultural Contexts the influence of cultural norms and intersecting identities on women’s impostor experiences. The primary contribution of this review is threefold, it reconceptualizes impostorism as an institutionally produced experience shaped by gendered organizational structures rather than individual vulnerability; it maps the phenomenon’s antecedents, consequences, coping mechanisms, and intersectional dimensions within a unified thematic framework; and it identifies systematic gaps in the reviewed studies including the near-exclusive concentration on healthcare settings, the underexamination of structural antecedents, and the dominance of Western, individualistic research contexts that constrain the field’s generalizability and theoretical ambition. Future research should expand to diverse professional and geographical contexts using longitudinal, intersectional, and mixed-method designs.