#311: Unmasking Impostor Feelings in Engineering: The Role of Gender and Belonging among Secondary Students

The underrepresentation of women in STEM persists, with factors such as sense of belonging and the impostor phenomenon (IP) influencing motivation. While impostor feelings are well-studied in adults, few studies have examined adolescents. This study examined the relation between engineering belonging and IP among N = 1,187 diverse U.S. students in Grades 7-10. Results showed that girls reported stronger impostor feelings than boys in both middle and high school, with engineering belonging linked to feelings of impostor only in high school. Findings highlight the importance of belonging in shaping adolescents’ self-perceptions, pointing towards the importance of early efforts to foster inclusive engineering contexts and long-term persistence in engineering.