Imposter feelings rise when belonging feels conditional
There is no dependable statistical ranking that identifies one kind of worker as universally most likely to experience severe imposter syndrome. Researchers and surveys do not always define or measure it the same way, so comparisons across groups are difficult. Still, a recurring pattern is that imposter feelings can be more common when someone is underrepresented, new to a field, or repeatedly made to feel they must prove they belong.
That can include women in male-dominated workplaces, racial or ethnic minorities in teams where few colleagues share their background, and first-generation professionals navigating unfamiliar workplace norms. These are not inherently more doubtful people. The setting can give them more reasons to question whether a mistake will be treated as an ordinary learning moment—or as evidence they never deserved the job.
Why success may not quiet the doubt
Imposter feelings involve discounting evidence of competence: a person may credit a promotion to luck, interpret praise as politeness, or fear that one error will expose them as a fraud. When someone is highly visible or feels pressure to represent a whole group, success may not settle the question. It can instead raise the stakes of the next performance.
The workplace can reinforce that loop through vague expectations, little feedback, or uneven scrutiny. A colleague who already feels uncertain may read each ambiguous signal as proof of inadequacy, while the organization overlooks the conditions producing that uncertainty.
So the most useful answer is not a fixed demographic label. Risk tends to gather where high expectations meet weak belonging and little room to be a beginner. That is why changing how feedback, mentoring, and mistakes are handled can matter as much as helping an individual build confidence.
