How common are imposter feelings in product?

This novel research was conducted in Summer 2025, and has since been shared at ProductTanks up and down the UK (Manchester, Cambridge, Newcastle). If you would like me to bring this to your community or team, get in touch.

Investigating the prevalence of imposter feelings amongst product professionals.

Summary

85 product professionals completed the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) as part of original research into the prevalence and experience of imposter feelings in Product roles. 96% of respondents reported experiencing imposter feelings at some level. Scores were remarkably consistent across gender, seniority, and whether or not respondents managed others, suggesting that imposter feelings in Product are not a personal failing, but are a structural feature of the role.

Introduction

Imposter phenomenon was first described by psychotherapists Dr Pauline Clance and Dr Susannah Imes in 1978 as a pattern of "intellectual phoniness": the persistent belief that one's success is undeserved and that others will eventually discover this. Despite decades of research, most studies have focused on students or clinical populations. Product management sits at the intersection of technology, business, and people, requiring constant judgement calls with incomplete information, high visibility, and frequent evaluation by others. It is a likely environment for imposter feelings to thrive, yet no published research had examined this specifically. This study set out to fill that gap.

Hypotheses

1. Imposter feelings are prevalent within the Product population.

2. Women more than men will experience imposter feelings more intensely in Product.

3. The more senior you are in Product, the more likely and intense you are to feel like an imposter.

4. The more tenure you have in Product, the more likely and intense the feelings of being an imposter.

Method

85 product professionals completed the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale (CIPS), a validated 20-item psychometric tool widely used in imposter phenomenon research. Respondents rated each item on a scale of 1 to 5, producing a total score between 20 and 100. Higher scores indicate stronger imposter feelings.

Scores below 40 suggest few imposter feelings; 40-60 indicate moderate; 61-80 high; and above 80 intense imposter feelings. Respondents were recruited through product communities and ranged from product managers to CPOs, across the UK, Europe, and North America. 75% of respondents identified as female, 24% as male, and 1% as other.

Results

96% of respondents reported imposter feelings at some level. The mean score across all 85 respondents placed the average product professional in the moderate range.

Scores were strikingly consistent across the variables tested. Female and male respondents scored almost identically. Those who managed people scored similarly to those who did not. Experience level showed some variation, with respondents in the 2-5 year range scoring highest and those with more than 10 years of experience scoring lowest, though even the most experienced group remained firmly in the moderate range.

When respondents described the situations that most commonly triggered imposter feelings, clear themes emerged: new roles or unfamiliar challenges, presenting to senior stakeholders, receiving praise or recognition, being surrounded by high-achieving peers, and periods of career transition.

Discussion

These findings challenge the framing of imposter feelings as an individual problem requiring an individual solution. When 96% of a professional population reports imposter feelings — regardless of gender, seniority, or experience — the explanation cannot be personal inadequacy. It must be, at least in part, structural.

Product management places people in inherently evaluative, ambiguous, and high-stakes conditions. These are precisely the conditions under which imposter feelings are most likely to surface. The implication for organisations is significant: training individuals to feel more confident will not address a pattern this pervasive. The environment itself needs examining.

The identical scores across gender also challenge common assumptions about who experiences imposter feelings. Whilst male product professionals appear to be as affected as female ones, they may simply be less likely to name it.

Further research

This study establishes the prevalence of imposter feelings amongst product professionals, but prevalence alone does not explain the underlying mechanisms. The natural next step is qualitative research exploring what actually happens when a product professional experiences imposter feelings — how it manifests in their thinking, their decisions, and their behaviour — and critically, what helps them move through it. Understanding the belief structures that sustain imposter feelings, and those that disrupt them, would connect this research directly to the broader question of how beliefs govern professional performance.