Shaking off the Imposter Syndrome: Our Place in the Resistance

Jarldorn and Gatwiri use auto-ethnographic and feminist theorisations to draw on their subjective experiences of gender, race, class, age and nationality to expose how the term ‘imposter syndrome’ attaches itself to bodies which transgress the ideals of traditional academia. Focussing on the experiences of transitioning from student to doctor, this chapter follows their entry into academia, exploring feeling ‘out of place’ through a structural lens in the context of the Australian neoliberal university. The authors conclude by offering the strategies they deploy to resist and challenge the narrative of the ‘ideal academic’, while shaking up academia through inclusive and critical approaches to teaching and student engagement, and through nurturing feminist friendships.