A third panel member, Dr. Amy Kotsenas, a neuroradiologist on faculty at Mayo Clinic, started her talk by asking the room how many had ever felt like a fraud in their work. Most of the predominantly female audience raised their hands. She then went on to talk about Imposter Syndrome, which strikes high-achieving individuals who have difficulty internalizing their accomplishments and fear being exposed as incompetent. It tends to impact women and minorities more as a masculine culture seems against them.

Imposter Syndrome can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, and low self-confidence, which can discourage women from pursuing careers in the sciences. She talked about strategies for women to prevent IS, stating above all: “Be brave, not perfect.” Such notables who have said they experienced the syndrome, according to Kotsenas, include Supreme Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Albert Einstein.

McGinty stressed that a big part of the solution to improving the rate of women in radiology, medical informatics, and technology must come from men in the sciences. She cited several examples of male counterparts who had helped in her journey to become a radiologist. She was optimistic that radiology and medical informatics would see the same trend.

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