Imposter Syndrome and Senior Academic Leadership in UK Business Schools.

Abstract:

This paper explores the role of the imposter syndrome in defining the leadership identity, the decisions taken, and the perception of effectiveness of senior leaders of UK business schools. Although the syndrome of the imposter has had considerable literature coverage in terms of research as an issue faced by young academics, little research seems to exist that explores this syndrome at the senior levels of leadership. It is evident that the study employs a qualitative research methodology that is rooted in the principles of the interpretivist paradigm. This study involved conducting in-depth interviews with senior academic leaders, such as Programme Directors, Departmental Heads, or Associate or Deputy Deans, in various business schools in the UK. Reflexive thematic analysis was employed for the analysis of data to understand the interpretation of IMPS among the senior academic leaders. Findings suggest that the presence of imposter syndrome is widespread among senior university leaders, sustained by performance-managed systems of governance, metric-based accountability, and uncertain leadership power. Perceptions of imposter syndrome shape leadership behaviours in complicated ways, including positively influencing self-monitoring, emotional labour, risk-aversion behaviours, and reflexive behaviours that also cultivate self-reflection, self-consciousness, or self-humility. Psychological safe work environments with collegiate support were shown to soften the experience of leadership self-doubt among university leaders with imposter syndrome. This research moves the literature on leadership forward by shifting the understanding of the imposter syndrome from a personal psychological issue to a structurally created phenomenon. This research offers new empirical evidence on senior academic leadership in the context of UK business schools, emphasizing the importance of dealing with the institutional factors that enable the issue of self-doubt in leadership.