Events to empower women in the chem sector
FEATURE
Panel – speakers from Green Lithium , Alpek Polyester , Koch Industries , 2M Group and Womble Bond Dickinson shared their own experiences with imposter syndrome and how its effects have changed at different stages of their career .
TACKLING IMPOSTER SYNDROME
Events to empower women in the chem sector
Sarah Daun , partner at Womble Bond Dickinson , on the firm ’ s series of events focused on supporting women in the chemicals industry
International law firm Womble Bond Dickinson ( WBD ) hosted the second of a series of events focusing on supporting women in the chemicals industry . Teesside has a proud heritage in the chemicals and wider process industry , but gender diversity can be challenging as , like many industrial sectors , it has been traditionally male dominated .
Much work has already been done by the sector . The picture on gender diversity is improving and we have lots of great role models in the region .
The events look to provide all genders with a forum to explore gender diversity in the chemical industry , shine a light on some of the great work that has already been done and explore what more we can do to support women in the sector .
The latest in this series of events , hosted at the Wilton Centre , which is home to Womble Bond Dickinson ’ s Teesside office , explored the impact of imposter syndrome , including the effects on both men and women in the chemicals and process sector and what businesses are doing to tackle imposter syndrome and support employees who have imposter experiences and generally improve workplace equality .
What is Imposter Syndrome ? A term coined in the 1970s , imposter syndrome is the name given to the psychological pattern of thinking characterised by persistent feelings of selfdoubt or feeling like a fraud .
Those who have imposter syndrome are often successful people , but believe they are less competent than others perceive them to be and have a fear of “ being found out ”.
Many people struggle with imposter syndrome without knowing what it is or how to manage its effects .
It is not linked to ability or success . In fact , lots of capable and high achieving individuals report feelings of imposter syndrome .
While it is not exclusively a challenge for women , it does typically affect more women than men .
This chimes with studies which have found that matters such as continuing biases , discrimination and even underrepresentation of women in a particular field can exacerbate feelings of imposter syndrome .
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