From a conference built on personal experience to a community project on impostor syndrome. Rida Butt invites you in.
Rida Butt, final-year Medical Sciences student, University of Westminster
* * *
My name is Rida Butt. I am a final-year Medical Sciences student at the University of Westminster, and I was once told, on two separate occasions, by two different teachers:
“Good luck trying to achieve your goals.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t dropped out yet. You’re still here?”
Two comments. Different times. Different people. Similar weight.
I do not know what either teacher intended when they said those words. Perhaps they were jokes. Perhaps the laughter died away in the office, and the moment passed for everyone else. But words are like arrows. Once released, they cannot be taken back. They travel far beyond the moment they were first uttered, and they find their way into the doubts we already carry.
Doubt does not always show up as insecurity. Sometimes it shows up as quietness. You stop speaking up. You stop being proactive. You stop reaching for opportunities because somewhere in your mind, you have already decided you are not capable enough to succeed. Slowly, that quietness began to take things away from me.
Looking back, I realise that my silence was not a lack of ambition. It was the result of believing that I was not enough. The choices we make, the opportunities we take, and the ones we let pass us by can follow us far beyond the moment itself.
Impostor syndrome is not simply the fear of failure. It is the feeling that even when you are succeeding, you are somehow still not enough. It is feeling like an impostor in your own skin, and like you do not belong. Studies suggest that approximately 75% of undergraduates experience it.[1]
That statistic made me realise that this was not only my story. It is a shared experience that can affect students across every course, every year group, and every background. It is what led me to deliver a conference on impostor syndrome through the Democratic Education Network. The response was warm. Many students and peers described experiences that closely mirrored what had been discussed.
To take the conversation further, I participated in a University of Westminster research study exploring students’ experiences at university. During a focus group, I mentioned the DEN conference. The researcher asked whether anyone in the group had experienced impostor syndrome themselves. One response has stayed with me. A student described questioning whether they had chosen the right course, because they had come from a non-technical background. They admitted they were “afraid of contributing to class” in case others with more experience perceived them as “not quite smart.” They said impostor syndrome still appears from time to time, especially as they enter the job market. They left us with a line I have carried since:
“The most important thing is a resilient mindset. It takes you far in life.”
That reminded me that impostor syndrome is not only a challenge we face within the university. It is one that can continue beyond graduation.
Rather than asking “How do I overcome impostor syndrome?”, I want us to ask “How can we support one another?” That is why I believe this conversation should not end with a single conference. I am proposing a project. It would begin with a student questionnaire to gather experiences of impostor syndrome across different courses, followed by discussion workshops where students can share their perspectives, understand how our experiences differ, name what challenges we share, and identify practical changes we can make together.
Join me in creating a space where students like us feel heard, supported, and confident in our ability to succeed. In doing so, the project supports the vision of Sustainable Development Goal 4: education is not only about academic achievement. It is also about ensuring that every student has the opportunity to flourish.
Perhaps the solution lies not in facing impostor syndrome alone. Perhaps it lies in supporting one another as a community.
* * *
Rida Butt is a final-year Medical Sciences student at the University of Westminster. If you would like to take part in the impostor syndrome project, in the questionnaire, in the workshops, or in both, please get in touch with her through the DEN team, or by writing to us at insidewestminster.co.uk.
[1] Khalil, A. I., et al. (2024). Investigating the association between resilience and impostor syndrome in undergraduate nursing and medical students: a cross-sectional study. Journal of Medicine and Life, 17(9), 868–879. https://doi.org/10.25122/jml-2024-0160
