Imposter Syndrome and Bayes’ Rule
At Cornell, many students are no stranger to imposter syndrome- the feeling that they are inadequate or don’t belong. This is especially true for students from first-generation low-income backgrounds. Students coming from lower socioeconomic backgrounds do not have the same resources that other students do and experience different familial dynamics that shape their self-confidence and ability to succeed. In class, we discussed that Bayes’ rule allows us to determine the probability of an event conditional on prior information that is related to the event. Using Bayes’ rule, it is possible to model the probability of success or failure conditional on a student’s family background and self-confidence. Researchers also use this information to model the probability of the types of paths that a student may pursue such as higher education vs vocational school.
The first study linked below explores the effect of family background and self-confidence on gaps between generational educational achievement. Using Bayes’ Rule, they demonstrate how confidence levels are an important condition on the probability of success. When it correlates with family background, self-confidence is a clear indicator of gaps in educational attainment through generations. The study shows that students update their beliefs of success as educational and career tracks are chosen for them by external factors. In the learning process, students shape their own self confidence from the choices and paths that are either picked. The probability of success and failure is again calculated with this new conditional information. As a student goes through more experiences, self-confidence and probability of success continues to update. They found that consistently, students from backgrounds where family members do not hold a degree start off with lower self-confidence which eventually cascades into lower performance and intergenerational gaps in economic and academic achievement.
Over-confidence and under-confidence that is learned from upbringing blurs a student’s innate ability, impacting choices made in investments into education, and in return severely impacts their success. Imposter syndrome stems from under-confidence which is connected to previous life experiences, family background, and socioeconomic status. As a result, we tend to see more students from under-priviledged backgrounds experience imposter syndrome (second link). From this study, we can see that not all students start off on equal footing which perpetuates into student performance. It is crucial to be aware of the diversity in large classrooms in rigorous institutions such as Cornell. Investing in students from disadvantaged backgrounds is necessary to tap into their full potential and ensure their success, improving the quality of the institution itself.
Family background, self-confidence and economic outcomes:
https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/58714/1/690075634.pdf
Feeling Like an Imposter: The Effect of Perceived Classroom Competition on the Daily Psychological Experiences of First-Generation College Students
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1948550619882032