University of Colorado Boulder

10 November 2017
To: Dr. Justin Atwell

From: Jarek Carlson JC

Jackson Carter JC
Guillermo Rodriguez GR
Andria Ribeiro De Noronha Sales AS

Subject: Progress Report on How Procrastination Relates to Imposter Syndrome

Introduction
Impostor Syndrome explains why some successful people feel like a fraud and consider
their achievements luck rather than talent. Common symptoms include perfectionism,
overworking and fear of failure as defense mechanisms against the feeling of not
belonging. This research project aims to investigate the relationship between imposter
syndrome and procrastination. Victims of the syndrome are more likely to avoid tasks
out of fear of not being able to accomplish the desired results. This research will be
beneficial for both the scientific community and the industry because a significant
number of STEM students and professionals suffer these syndromes.

Completed Work
We have nearly completed the initial phase of our research. First, we designed a quick
online survey addressing age, gender, ethnicity, seniority, and other factors that may
impact imposter syndrome. We assembled our initial survey and emailed the it to over
200 potential participants. So far, we have a total of 84 responses, with more coming in
everyday. We also held a group meeting outside of class to determine roles,
responsibilities, deadlines, and deliverables. At the time of this progress report, we are
waiting for more responses from survey participants.

Work In Progress
Ideally, we would like to have around 100 responses. While 100 is a nice round number,
we hypothesize that only 84 will still give us the data we need. After receiving 100
surveys, we will analyze the data set. This quantitative data will convey initial findings
and set the stage for the qualitative portion of our research. The qualitative piece of our
research consists of participants divided into two groups, potential imposters, and non-
imposters and both groups will be asked to solve simple physics and math problems.

Work In Progress Continued

Once we have fulfilled both the quantitative and qualitative portions of our
research, the group will then be able to analyze, synthesize, and draw
conclusions from the data. All of this will be bundled together in a finished draft
of our report. The draft will be compiled into a cloud-based text editor like Google
Docs so that all group members can participate, collaborate, and give feedback
on format, rhetoric, and presentation.

Updated Timeline
Date Deliverables Completio
s n

10/23 Proposal Due X

10/24 Distribute Surveys X

Collect Surveys
11/10 Send Date and Location of Social Study to Participants

11/10 Progress Report Due

11/14 Conduct Experiment

11/14 Finalize Data Analysis

11/15 Research Report First Draft Due

11/27 Research Report Final Draft Due

Conclusion
We have had to make a few adjustments to our timeline due to scheduling conflicts and
the hustle and bustle of Spring 2018 registration. However, this will not affect the
deliverables we have set for each member of the group. We will then present a
comprehensive research report detailing how procrastination can affect imposter
syndrome and vice versa. With this research we intend to answer the question of
imposter syndrome in hopes of allowing those that experience it academically and
professionally to mitigate their symptoms and no longer feel as if they are an outsider.