@inproceedings{GuenesTTBSK25,
  author = {Guenes, Paloma and Tomaz, Rafael and Trinkenreich, Bianca and Baldassarre, Maria Teresa and Storey, Margaret-Anne and Kalinowski, Marcos},
  title = {Impostor Phenomenon Among Software Engineers: Investigating Gender Differences and Well-Being},
  year = {2025},
  isbn = {},
  publisher = {IEEE},
  urlAuthor_version = {http://www.inf.puc-rio.br/~kalinowski/publications/GuenesTTBSK25.pdf}, 
  doi = {},
  abstract = {Research shows that more than half of software professionals experience the Impostor Phenomenon (IP), with a notably higher prevalence among women compared to men. IP can lead to mental health consequences, such as depression and burnout, which can significantly impact personal well-being and software professionals' productivity. This study investigates how IP manifests among software professionals across intersections of gender with race/ethnicity, marital status, number of children, age, and professional experience. Additionally, it examines the well-being of software professionals experiencing IP, providing insights into the interplay between these factors. We analyzed data collected through a theory-driven survey (n = 624) that used validated psychometric instruments to measure IP and well-being in software engineering professionals. We explored the prevalence of IP in the intersections of interest. Additionally, we applied bootstrapping to characterize well-being within our field and statistically tested whether professionals of different genders suffering from IP have lower well-being. The results show that IP occurs more frequently in women and that the prevalence is particularly high among black women as well as among single and childless women. Furthermore, regardless of gender, software engineering professionals suffering from IP have significantly lower well-being. Our findings indicate that effective IP mitigation strategies are needed to improve the well-being of software professionals. Mitigating IP would have particularly positive effects on the well-being of women, who are more frequently affected by IP.},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the Sixth Workshop on Gender Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in Software Engineering (GE@ICSE'25)},
  pages = {},
  numpages = {8},
  keywords = {impostor phenomenon, imposter syndrome, human aspects, perceived productivity, software engineering},
  location = {Ottawa, Canada},
  note = {<font color="red">Accepted for publication.</font>},
  series = {GE@ICSE'25}
}

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T.","Storey, M.","Kalinowski, M."],"bibdata":{"bibtype":"inproceedings","type":"inproceedings","author":[{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Guenes"],"firstnames":["Paloma"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Tomaz"],"firstnames":["Rafael"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Trinkenreich"],"firstnames":["Bianca"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Baldassarre"],"firstnames":["Maria","Teresa"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Storey"],"firstnames":["Margaret-Anne"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Kalinowski"],"firstnames":["Marcos"],"suffixes":[]}],"title":"Impostor Phenomenon Among Software Engineers: Investigating Gender Differences and Well-Being","year":"2025","isbn":"","publisher":"IEEE","urlauthor_version":"http://www.inf.puc-rio.br/~kalinowski/publications/GuenesTTBSK25.pdf","doi":"","abstract":"Research shows that more than half of software professionals experience the Impostor Phenomenon (IP), with a notably higher prevalence among women compared to men. IP can lead to mental health consequences, such as depression and burnout, which can significantly impact personal well-being and software professionals' productivity. This study investigates how IP manifests among software professionals across intersections of gender with race/ethnicity, marital status, number of children, age, and professional experience. Additionally, it examines the well-being of software professionals experiencing IP, providing insights into the interplay between these factors. We analyzed data collected through a theory-driven survey (n = 624) that used validated psychometric instruments to measure IP and well-being in software engineering professionals. We explored the prevalence of IP in the intersections of interest. Additionally, we applied bootstrapping to characterize well-being within our field and statistically tested whether professionals of different genders suffering from IP have lower well-being. The results show that IP occurs more frequently in women and that the prevalence is particularly high among black women as well as among single and childless women. Furthermore, regardless of gender, software engineering professionals suffering from IP have significantly lower well-being. Our findings indicate that effective IP mitigation strategies are needed to improve the well-being of software professionals. 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