Fitch Learning has published a research report entitled “Women in Financial Services – Say Goodbye to Imposter Syndrome”, which sheds a new light on the top issues and professional behaviors that traditionally limit many women in the global financial services industry from achieving their full career potential.

The report presents the findings of a research poll carried out by Fitch Learning amongst an audience of 320 senior banking and L&D executives with typically over 10 years’ industry experience from leading global financial institutions, who came together virtually at a webinar held last October. The findings reveal that:

• 92% of these female attendees felt they had suffered imposter syndrome at some time.
• 82% play down their personal and professional achievements.
• 67% often apologize even when they didn’t do anything wrong.
• 50% worry that others overvalue their success and as a result consider themselves a fraud.
• 45% of attendees felt they didn’t deserve their achievements and successes – that it was just down to good luck/good timing.

Imposter syndrome can be defined as feelings of insecurity and self-doubt, such as feeling that you are not worthy of your success or a general sense that you are a fraud in certain situations. If you don’t recognise and control your imposter then it can lead to stress, anxiety or (even worse) depression. Whilst imposter syndrome can be viewed negatively, there are some really positive things that women can do to say goodbye to imposter syndrome, including noting key successes, celebrating their uniqueness and talking to others about their experiences – as well as knowing it’s okay to be themselves in the workplace!

Sarah Butt, Client Partnership Director, Fitch Learning, said: “Fitch Learning has a long-standing commitment to the empowerment, training and development of women in the financial services and in the typically male-dominated sector of finance, gender parity has now become a key topic of focus. While positive, the mere fact that it is a point of discussion can perpetuate feelings of self-doubt or ‘imposter syndrome’ among females working in the industry, and this report provides a set of recommendations for how women can overcome these obstacles and go on to have rewarding careers.”

The full published report is available to download now and the webinar replay is available here.

Source: Fitch