A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of Coaching to Mitigate the Impostor Phenomenon in Early-Career Software Engineers

TL;DR

This study empirically evaluates a coaching intervention aimed at reducing impostor feelings among early-career software engineers, finding modest effects influenced by contextual factors.

Contribution

It provides the first empirical evidence on coaching's impact on impostor phenomenon in software engineering settings.

Findings

Coaching led to modest reductions in impostor feelings.

Contextual and temporal factors also influenced impostor scores.

Structured coaching may support reflection on impostor feelings.

Abstract

Context: The Impostor Phenomenon (IP), the persistent belief of being a fraud despite evident competence, is common in Software Engineering (SE), where high expectations for expertise and innovation prevail. Although coaching and similar interventions are proposed to mitigate IP, empirical evidence in SE remains underexplored. Objective: This study examines the impact of a structured group coaching intervention on reducing IP feelings among early-career software engineers. Method: We conducted a quasi-experiment with 20 participants distributed across two project teams using a wait-list control design, complemented by non-participant observation. The treatment group received a three-session coaching intervention, while the control group received it after an observation phase. IP was assessed using the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS), alongside evaluated measures of well-being (WHO-5), life satisfaction (SWLS), and affect (PANAS). Results: The coaching resulted in modest reductions in CIPS scores, whereas the control group also improved during the observation phase, suggesting that contextual and temporal factors may have exerted a stronger influence than the formal intervention. Conclusion: These results suggest that coaching may support reflection and awareness related to IP, yet other contextual aspects of team collaboration and project work might also contribute to these changes. This study offers a novel empirical step toward understanding how structured IP interventions operate within SE environments.