When most people start a new job or learn a new skill, they feel unqualified or out of place. Turns out, these feelings can actually be good—here’s why.
While roaming the streets of Taipei as a missionary, surrounded by native Mandarin speakers, Alex Keogh (Chinese, Psychology ’26) felt that his tones weren’t quite sharp enough and his vocabulary not quite big enough. In essence, he was experiencing the imposter phenomenon (colloquially known as imposter syndrome). Years after returning from his mission, Keogh applied for and received funding for a HUM Grant to study the imposter phenomenon. Using findings from his research, Keogh hopes to reframe imposter feelings for international students and give them a new narrative—one that brings confidence and positivity, not self-doubt.
Exploring the Imposter Phenomenon
After his mission, Keogh began working alongside associate professor of management Jeff Bednar in the Marriott School of Business on research projects involving the imposter phenomenon. In this capacity, Keogh interviewed CEOs, entrepreneurs, and others in the business world to better understand these imposter feelings. He says, “I’m always thinking about how I can help people work together to find a really creative solution to a problem.”
Keogh has since dedicated himself to understanding these imposter feelings in international students, in large part because of his personal experiences in Taiwan and even in the US. Since starting at BYU, Keogh has had numerous opportunities to interact with and get to know international students—especially those who help out in his Chinese courses. He has found that, despite the encouragement and praise they receive from American friends, many of these students doubt their own English skills. He says, “The whole point [of the research] is we want to help international students and people who have moved across cultures feel [that] the fact [they] feel imposter syndrome can be a good thing: it means you’re really motivated to learn; it means that you care about what people think; it means you’re ambitious.”
it means you’re really motivated to learn; it means that you care about what people think; it means you’re ambitious.
Imposter Experiences in BYU Students
For his HUM Grant research, Keogh works with BYU faculty in the Marriott School of Business and in the College of Humanities to create and distribute surveys that gather data on how cultural differences between the US and a student’s home country impact the strength of imposter feelings. Keogh explains, “So far, we’ve done surveys and asked [international students] to answer questions about imposter experiences, level of satisfaction with education, confidence in English ability, and things like that.” These surveys also analyze the intensity of differences in social norms between a student’s home country and the US.
Keogh has received over 100 responses to these surveys and has even had the chance to share some trends in the data collected so far at the International Association for Conflict Management conference in Singapore. For example, he notes that “one thing that we’re finding in our data is that English language ability does predict the intensity of the imposter feelings that you’ll have. So, if you feel like you’re still learning English—if you’re not confident in the language yet—it seems to be associated with higher imposter feelings.”
Pulling from his research on organizational psychology at the Marriott School of Business, Keogh has found that “imposter phenomenon is something that is highly relevant and anyone could experience it at any given time. That means if anyone can experience it, anyone can cope with it.” Using his research with Bednar as groundwork, he explains that having a mentor and having a support system beyond the perceived imposter environment helps individuals cope with imposter feelings. As he collects data on the factors influencing the strength of imposter feelings in international students, he hopes to further build on these coping mechanisms.
if anyone can experience it, anyone can cope with it.
Research with a Cause
Keogh wants to use his research to do more than simply solve a problem—he hopes to help people, starting with the international students at BYU. He says, “To international students who are experiencing imposter feelings themselves, I would say the fact that you’re having these feelings means that you’ve put yourself in an environment where you can really learn and grow. So doubt your doubts before you doubt what other people are saying about you—you can do it.”
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