First Generation Engineers Experiencing

Imposter Syndrome

By Christina Sivaprakasam

When I began to look at the various sessions and speakers that would be in attendance at WeLocal Conference 2023, the session that immediately caught my eye was the one about being a first generation engineer and dealing with imposter syndrome, and I knew that this was the session I most wanted to go to. When I got to this session on the final day of the conference, the speaker was nowhere to be found I and many other attendees waited and waited but the speaker never showed up.

After about 10-15 minutes, one of the facilitators of the event walked up to the podium and asked us if we would like to share our own experiences and advice on the subject, and while I was too nervous to go up and talk about my own, listening to the various students, teachers, and women in technology who spoke was truly an incredible experience.

Out of these speakers, the one that stuck with me the most was Shanequah Brison, who had spoken at an earlier session, “Do You Really Know Why”. During this impromptu panel-style session, Brison spoke about how imposter syndrome affects your authenticity. When you let imposter syndrome win in your life, you lose what makes you unique because you begin to try to fit in and act like everyone around you. She reminded me of something that I often forget: I will always bring something to the table, whether it is my experiences as a woman of color in a STEM field or the various engineering skills I have accumulated in my 20 years of life As long as we remain true to ourselves and embrace our uniqueness, we will always have something to bring to the table.