Borrowed Time: ‘Identity as Liability’ – A Critical Discourse Analysis of Imposter Syndrome in Social Workers with Disabilities

Abstract

<p>This major research paper investigates the discourse of imposter syndrome, and how it is understood and affects disabled social workers/social service workers/social work learners. My research question asks: what are the discourses on imposter syndrome in social work and how do they intersect with disability? Using the method of critical discourse analysis (CDA) – informed interviews, I conducted 5 interviews with participants to ask how they understand and experience imposter syndrome with respect to disability. I found that all participants felt the immense impacts of imposter syndrome in the form of upward comparisons, self-doubting, heightened distress, procrastination, and perfectionism. Participants were able to recognize the compounded effects of imposter syndrome on their lives as a result of holding differing identity markers such as: race, sexual orientation, gender identity, type of disability, etc. Social work needs to make room for talk about imposter-hood and challenge the notions of the “ideal social worker”.</p>