Impostor Feelings of Music Education Graduate Students

Abstract

Impostor phenomenon (IP) is the psychological construct used to describe potentially debilitating feelings of fraud and fear of being exposed as a phony in individuals who are actually high achieving and successful. The purpose of this study was to investigate the IP feelings of music education graduate students. A total of 130 master’s and doctoral students completed a survey that included the Clance IP Scale, the Graduate Music Student Scale, and demographic items. Results indicated that impostor feelings were present in a substantial percentage of the participants. Full-time student status was associated with stronger IP responses than part-time status, as was working on the degree face-to-face versus hybrid. More frequent and intense impostor feelings were experienced by females versus males, participants ages 26 to 35, students who were not married or in a committed relationship, and those who were the first in their family to attend graduate school. Master’s and doctoral students’ IP responses were not different, but successive year in the graduate program was associated with stronger impostor feelings. Based on the possible detrimental effects of strong impostor feelings, the findings should raise concern for students, their instructors, and their mentors.