tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post1243731160981079273..comments2024-03-27T21:39:27.170-07:00Comments on The Adventures of Notorious Ph.D., Girl Scholar: Why It's Okay to Feel Like a FraudNotorious Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08700875559325201086noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-14243171197196986272007-11-18T07:28:00.000-08:002007-11-18T07:28:00.000-08:00This is all interesting stuff, and I'm glad you gu...This is all interesting stuff, and I'm glad you guys piped up. Hil, while I never want you to feel like a fraud, I like hearing that it's not confined to academia. Anon, the "everyone is a fraud" insight is interesting... and potentially terrifying.<BR/><BR/>There's <A HREF="http://rateyourstudents.blogspot.com/2007/11/smart-women-and-feeling-of-fraud.html" REL="nofollow">an interesting post</A> this morning on the website (I have a love/hate relationship with this site) that got the ball rolling. To sum up, it talks about this as a gendered issue. I do believe that men feel like frauds, but I have a sneaking, unsupported suspicion that they are less likely than women to really <I>believe</I> this, and let it drive them, either out of their fields, or (as this post and the book it references suggests) on to greater heights of excellence, as a cushion against the fear of being "found out."<BR/><BR/>I may pick up the book and leaf through it, just to see what I think.Notorious Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08700875559325201086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-66082162773091238752007-11-17T11:51:00.000-08:002007-11-17T11:51:00.000-08:00Isn't feeling like a fraud natural to anyone in ac...Isn't feeling like a fraud natural to anyone in academia -- at least anyone who cares about what they do? :-)<BR/><BR/>Seriously though, my wife has recently been thinking about going to grad school, so she's been sitting in on some. I read one of the papers she wrote that the professor agreed to take a look at and told her how good I thought it was. She said, "But what if I don't know what I'm talking about?" I smiled and said, "NOW, you're ready for grad school..."Matthew Gabrielehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11971159578332078338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-51210837973042026082007-11-16T08:02:00.000-08:002007-11-16T08:02:00.000-08:00There was a story on NPR last week about this, and...There was a story on NPR last week about this, and they said that research indicated that first observors did consider it a gendered thing, but now they know it is not. Personally, I think women just are more open to verbalizing their insecurities.<BR/><BR/>Feeling like a fraud is so normal that when I was at R1 MA institution, they had a workshop called "How to survive and thrive in grad school" for new grad students. It was attended by mostly women, but what drew the most gasps was the acknowledgement by the senior scholars/faculty was that feeling like a fraud was common. The nearly universal response, in a room with more than 70 new grad students - male and female - was 'OMG, I thought it was only me!'<BR/><BR/>There is apparently now a whole field of research on it. Who knew?Bellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10849272391043604637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-42896321023360928892007-11-15T21:29:00.000-08:002007-11-15T21:29:00.000-08:00I'm not sure your feelings are necessarily exclusi...I'm not sure your feelings are necessarily exclusive to academia. In my business (wine), we like to say, "The more you learn, the less you know." And there are times when I feel the way you do. But I know there is no possible way to know everything there is to know. I can only continue on in my education and hope I'm not eventually found out as a fraud.hilaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07622859963822036375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-72211047964982338732007-11-15T14:22:00.000-08:002007-11-15T14:22:00.000-08:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6648409483330236099.post-51614191256579767112007-11-15T12:51:00.000-08:002007-11-15T12:51:00.000-08:00Although I think I'm reasonably competent, I know ...Although I think I'm reasonably competent, I know well that there are moments in my academic life where I'm faking it. I'm writing something and thinking "Jeez, did I really understand that argument?" I'm presenting a paper and thinking it piles up evidence only to come to a shatteringly obvious conclusion. ("People in the past weren't very tolerant!")Or I'm lecturing and answer a question with something that sounds plausible, but which I suspect is an absolutely fluent line of nonsense. <BR/><BR/>That said, I figure everyone else is in the same boat. So I don't think "I'm a fraud!" I think "Everyone's a fraud!" The only time this assumption of widespread fraudulence keeps me up at night is when I think about Congress . . . or surgeons.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com