Impostor Syndrome in PhD Students: Self-Efficacy and Supervision

Impostor syndrome in PhD students often grows from a gap between perceived competence and actual capability, and that gap can widen when support does not match a student’s needs. A useful way to think about this is through self-efficacy: the belief that you can successfully do the work in front of you. Recent research suggests that building PhD self-efficacy, along with understanding how supervisor support can help or sometimes feel overwhelming, is central to making progress. By focusing on mastery experiences and calibrating supervision, doctoral candidates can turn uncertainty into more manageable action.

The Science of Feeling Capable

To address impostor syndrome in PhD students effectively, it helps to understand the psychology behind it. A 2024 study by Petruzziello, G., et al., published in the European Journal of Higher Education, explored how personal and contextual factors shape PhD students’ well-being. The study, titled “‘Is it me or … ?’ A multimethod study to explore the impact of personal and contextual factors on PhD students’ well-being,” found that self-efficacy is an important upstream factor.

In the study, self-efficacy was negatively associated with both emotional exhaustion and impostor syndrome. In other words, when students feel more capable in their academic work, they are less likely to feel like frauds and less likely to feel drained. The researchers also found that impostor syndrome can help explain the link between low self-efficacy and emotional exhaustion.

This makes the case for building evidence of competence rather than waiting for confidence to appear on its own. Small, concrete wins can give students a more accurate picture of what they are already able to do. Bandura’s self-efficacy framework, which identifies mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and physiological and affective states as key sources of confidence, offers a practical roadmap for that process. For background on the broader stress context in graduate study, see this analysis in PMC.

The Supervisor Trap: When Support Backfires

One of the most counter-intuitive findings in the Petruzziello et al. study is that supervisor support is not always experienced in the same way by every student. Support is generally positive, but the study suggests a nuanced effect for students with low self-efficacy.

For those students, high levels of supervisor support could be interpreted as confirmation that they are not truly capable on their own. That interpretation does not mean supervision is harmful in itself. It means the study found that support can sometimes be read through an impostor lens, especially when a student already doubts their competence.

The practical takeaway is not to reduce support across the board, but to match the type and intensity of support to the student’s current needs. A blanket supervision style may be less helpful than structured, tailored guidance that encourages independence over time. Institutions also provide researcher support resources, such as mental health support guides for researchers, that reflect the value of balanced supervisory relationships.

Building Self-Efficacy Through Mastery Experiences

If low self-efficacy fuels impostor syndrome in PhD students, the most useful response is to build self-efficacy deliberately. Bandura’s theory offers four ways to do that in doctoral study.

1. Mastery Experiences

Mastery experiences are the strongest source of self-efficacy. They come from completing tasks successfully and seeing the results of your own effort. For PhD students, that means breaking large projects into smaller, doable pieces. Instead of trying to “finish the dissertation,” aim to complete one section, analyze one dataset, or revise one argument. Each finished task becomes evidence that you can do the work.

2. Vicarious Experiences

Seeing similar people succeed can help you believe you can do it too. That might mean talking with peers about their own setbacks, learning from senior doctoral students, or reading accounts that normalize struggle. For example, this discussion of imposter syndrome as a PhD student can help reduce the sense that you are alone.

3. Verbal Persuasion

Specific feedback from a credible person can strengthen confidence, especially when it is tied to a concrete piece of work. “This argument is clear” is more useful than general praise because it tells you what is working and why. Students can also ask supervisors for feedback on a defined task rather than on everything at once.

4. Physiological and Affective States

Stress and anxiety can make ability feel lower than it is. That does not mean stress causes failure; it means strong emotions can distort how performance is interpreted. Simple routines that protect focus, rest, and recovery can help students judge their work more clearly.

Reframing Supervision and Communication

Students who feel overwhelmed by supervision can often benefit from asking for a more specific kind of help. Rather than requesting broad oversight, it can be useful to ask for feedback on one section, one method, or one decision at a time. For example, “I’ve drafted the methods section and would appreciate feedback on clarity before I move on” gives the supervisor a clear way to help without taking over the task.

For supervisors, the study suggests paying attention to whether support is matched to the student’s level of self-efficacy. The research does not say support is inherently bad. Instead, it suggests that high-intensity support may sometimes reinforce fraudulence for students who already feel unsure of themselves. A practical response is to offer guidance that builds autonomy gradually, rather than assuming more contact is always better.

This is where supervision becomes a skill, not just a relationship: students need support that helps them do the work themselves, and supervisors need to notice when reassurance may be landing as pressure instead of help.

Practical Steps for Daily Management

Here are three simple ways to apply these ideas during the week:

1. Document small wins: Write down a few concrete tasks you completed each week. Revisit that list when self-doubt spikes.
2. Set autonomy blocks: Reserve time to work without checking in for reassurance, so you can practice solving problems independently.
3. Ask for targeted feedback: Bring one specific question or draft section to each supervision meeting instead of opening with a general request for help.

These habits will not remove uncertainty from doctoral study, but they can make it easier to work through it. The goal is not constant confidence; it is a steadier sense that you can keep making progress.

By focusing on self-efficacy and on the kind of supervisor support that fits the moment, PhD students can reduce the hold of impostor syndrome and move forward more deliberately. Well-being in doctoral study is not just a personality trait; it is something that can be shaped through practice, feedback, and better supervision.

Reference

Petruzziello, G., et al. (2024). “‘Is it me or … ?’ A multimethod study to explore the impact of personal and contextual factors on PhD students’ well-being.” European Journal of Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2024.2352445