Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes – Part A: Exploring Perceptions
30 minutes – Part B: Unpacking Sarah’s Beliefs
20 minutes – Part C: Identifying The Problems
20 minutes – Part D: Finding Solutions
10 minutes – Reflection

Part A: Exploring Perceptions

Explain to students that this lesson features clips and explores issues from the documentary film, The Leadership, about a leadership expedition for women in STEMM - science, technology, engineering, maths, medicine. It focuses on the character Sarah Charnaud who was a participant of the first Homeward Bound leadership program.

Step 1.

Have students read Sarah Charnaud’s profile below, adapted from https://www.acreme.org.au/person/sarah-charnaud/:

Dr Sarah Charnaud is a molecular biologist who is an expert in parasite survival within host cells. Her research focuses on the genetic differences between humans that affect the safety of anti-malarial treatments and how well they work. She holds a Senior Research Officer post at Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne, Australia, where she leads the molecular team.

Note: This profile was accurate at the time The Leadership was released but is likely to be out of date when you are reading it. Remind students that Sarah is a character from The Leadership. If they haven't yet viewed the film, explain the plot using the teacher notes.

Step 2.

Ask students to write down:

What does this description make you assume about Sarah?
What values do you think she would hold?
What might be some of her strengths?

Step 3.

Have students sort the below factors into the Venn diagram, or leave them out if they don’t believe they are relevant. They might also like to add their own.

Teacher’s comments
Peer’s comments
Family’s comments
Things I’ve seen on TV or online
Things I’ve overheard people talking about
Things I’ve seen or heard about in the news
My marks
My experiences with school
My experiences with sport or clubs
What I’ve read in books

Step 4.

Ask students to explain to a partner what they put in each section of the Venn diagram and why.

Note: Be sensitive when pairing up students for this activity - make sure they are with someone they trust and feel comfortable with. It may not be appropriate for all students to share their thinking and be careful before inviting students to share with the whole class.

Step 5.

Invite students to discuss:

Why are some people more or less affected by what people think of them?

Note: It is important to remind students not to use judgmental or negative language around people who experience imposter syndrome. It is a common experience and it is not ‘the fault’ of the person who is experiencing it. Remind students that everyone can experience anxiety or stress and that experiencing imposter syndrome is common.

Part B: Unpacking Sarah’s Beliefs

Step 1.

Play the clip of Sarah discussing her feelings of being an imposter.

Imposter Syndrome - Dr Sarah Charnaud (https://vimeo.com/554135936/1b052f890e)

Ask students:

Did what she said surprise you? Why/why not?
Do you think her internal thoughts match what others probably think about her? Why/why not?

Step 2.

Ask students to write on the Student Worksheet A) what Sarah was thinking and B) how others (you) perceived her. They can do this task by either making lists or by drawing a head - and writing internal thoughts inside the head and external factors outside the head.

Step 3.

Play this video:

What is imposter syndrome and how can you combat it? - Elizabeth Cox (https://youtu.be/ZQUxL4Jm1Lo)

Have students discuss:

How does Sarah reflect the idea of ‘imposter syndrome’
Why do you think it's more common for women and people of colour to experience this?
Have you ever experienced this? When and why?

Step 4.

Ask students, what they think would be the professional and personal impacts of imposter syndrome (for anyone, not just Sarah). Have students list as many as possible (both good, bad and neutral) on their Student Worksheets. Invite them to share their answers.

Step 5.

Play this clip of Sarah from the end of The Leadership:

Imposter Syndrome - Sarah's realisation (https://vimeo.com/554136234/8b61d3116f)

Ask students to write down:

What she said	How it shows a change

Step 6.

Ask students - Why do you think Sarah’s sense of herself changed? They should consider factors including:

Being chosen for the program
Meeting many other successful women in STEMM
Leadership training on Homeward Bound
Sarah’s realisation (on the beach) about her attitude towards herself
Other.

They can write a paragraph on the Student Worksheet.

Step 7.

Ask students to share their responses with a classmate, looking for areas of agreement and disagreement. Have students defend their interpretations with evidence.

Step 8 (optional).

You might like to play this reflection from a Q&A session that was held after a screening of The Leadership:

Imposter Syndrome - Q&A reflection (https://vimeo.com/554136476/6570322fbd)

Part C: Identifying The Problems

Step 1.

Tell students they will be using a ‘generate, sort, connect and elaborate thinking routine’ in response to the question:

What do you think might contribute to women in STEMM fields experiencing ‘imposter syndrome’?

The steps below will walk students through the routine.

Step 2.

Divide students into small table-based groups and provide them with a number of sticky notes.

Step 3.

Students should list all the potential factors contributing to imposter syndrome for women in STEMM. There should be one factor per sticky note. This is Step 1 - Generate.

Step 4.

Students should place the most important/influential factors in the centre of their butcher’s paper, then others that are less important should be placed on the outer edges of the paper. This is Step 2 - Sort.

If you don’t have sticky notes, students can use a big piece of paper to write their ‘factors’ on. They should leave plenty of room between each factor. Instead of putting key ideas in the middle, they can colour code them. The rest remains the same.

Step 5.

Students should draw lines between the ideas they think are related. They should label these lines with an explanation of how the ideas are connected. This is Step 3 - Connect.

Step 6.

Students should review their paper and identify any new ideas that have come up in their discussion. These should be added. This is Step 4 - Elaborate.

Step 7.

Have students defend their posters to the class. They should answer the question:

What do you think is the biggest factor contributing to women in STEMM fields experiencing ‘imposter syndrome’, and why?

Step 8.

Play this video:

Always #LikeAGirl (https://youtu.be/XjJQBjWYDTs)

Invite students to discuss whether they think this video provides any additional insight into why women (including in STEMM fields) might experience imposter syndrome.

Did they notice the difference in responses between younger and older participants? At what age do they think negative ideas about being a girl or a women start to impose on people, and why?

Students can either write their answers on the Student Worksheet or discuss in small groups.

Part D: Finding Solutions

Step 1.

Tell students that they have been given a mission to get rid of imposter syndrome for women in STEMM fields.

Step 2.

Ask them to pick one of the contributing factors (from Part C) of imposter syndrome. They should now take five minutes to individually list down every possible solution or way to address this factor that they can think of.

Step 3.

Have students pick ONE to TWO strategies they have come up with. Ask students to write a short persuasive text arguing that their strategy would help make a change.

Reflection

Have students read this text from The New York Times: How To Overcome 'Imposter Syndrome'.

Note: This article uses US spelling.

Ask students to share a strategy from the text they thought was helpful and explain why to a peer.

Ask students to reflect on the question:

What is the difference between humility and imposter syndrome? Confidence and arrogance?

Students can share their thoughts with the group or a peer.

Differentiated Learning

Extension - Students can develop their own thesis and argumentative text in response to the question: Should imposter syndrome be addressed on an individual/person-by-person level or a collective/systemic one? Explain the reasoning behind your stance. Refer to evidence (found through research) to support your claim.

Provisions for Learning Support -

For Part C and D, students could work with the teacher to develop their ideas. Teachers could provide ideas or strategies for students to work on.
For Part D, Step 3, students could create a persuasive video or podcast instead of completing a writing task.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

The Leadership - Imposter Syndrome

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