About this poster

---

Panel information
Panel 3. Schooling and Education

Abstract

---

Postsecondary retention among Black students has been on the decline since 2010 (PNPI, 2022), prompting questions about how best to quell negative determinants leading to higher dropout rates for this population. One such determinant is the imposter phenomenon (IP) or feelings of inadequacy leading to a person’s inability to internalize successes or recognize their intellect and capabilities (Clance & Imes, 1978). Experiences of IP in minorities have been shown to lead to psychological distress, minority student status stress, and suicidal ideation. Socioeconomic status (SES) may be equally as important considering that Black households have the lowest median income in the US and that lower SES is related to socioemotional difficulties, higher stress, and low self-esteem (Ahmed et al., 2020; McLoyd, 2013). These determinants may be even more pronounced at universities where students are the minority (i.e. predominantly White institutions or PWIs). Contrastingly, higher perceived social support (SS) has been found to increase students’ self-esteem and academic achievement, and to protect against dropping out of college (Salami et al., 2020). However, studies have not explored the intersectional impact of SES, IP, and SS on Black students in a predominantly White institution.

The current study aimed to fill this gap by examining perceived social support (SS) as a moderator of the relation between SES and IP in a sample of 72 Black, college freshmen attending a PWI. Participants self-reported their family SES on a 5-point scale (1=poor; 5=wealthy). IP was measured with 20 items from the Clance Imposter Scale (CIPS; Clance & Imes, 1978). To measure SS, participants listed the initials of people whom they felt were available to provide several types of support (27 items, e.g., “Whom can you count on to console you when you are very upset?”). A measure of perceived social support was derived by averaging the number of people the participant listed for each of the 27 items (termed “social support network size”).

Regression analysis showed that both SES and social support network size were significantly and inversely related to IP. Students from lower SES families and students with smaller social support networks had significantly higher levels of IP. The interaction between SES and social support network size was also significant, F (3,68) = 7.87, p <.001, R² = .26. Simple slopes analyses examining effects one standard deviation above and below the mean on network size revealed that, as hypothesized, lower SES predicted higher IP among students with smaller social support networks, b = -.51, p < .001, but not among those with larger social support networks, b = .06, p >.05. The findings highlight the need for PWIs to create spaces, organizations, and programs that provide Black students with an opportunity to connect with each other and faculty of color to increase their social support networks and enhance their sense of belonging.

Author information

Author	Role
Jada Childs, University of Michigan	Presenting author

⇦ Back to session