By Katie Barber, Greg Deacon, Molly Gerrard, Sam Glover, Maria Karpouzou, Megan Leach, Kate Mahoney, Elli Margolius, Beth Pittuck, and Marianne Rodie
Every other month our Research Ambassadors meet to catch up, share updates on their projects and discuss different research-related topics. Our March meeting focused on the topic of ‘confidence’. Self-confidence is a valuable tool for researchers. It is important for us to stand by our research and communicate it effectively to different audiences (Vitae, 2010). Being confident in our skills, ideas, and knowledge helps us when we analyse our data and critically assess existing research. Self-confidence also supports us to take on new challenges, like attending conferences or writing blogs and articles.
However, it can be difficult to feel confident about yourself in some research environments. Researchers can experience ‘imposter syndrome’. This has been described as the ‘constant fear of being exposed as a fraud’ (Stanford University, undated). Imposter syndrome can be caused by systemic discrimination and the biases and cultures of elitism found at some academic institutions. Researchers experiencing imposter syndrome may question if they’re worthy of being in certain spaces or feel like everyone else is more accomplished than them. This can cause feelings of self-doubt, with people questioning their abilities or not feeling good enough.
It’s important that researchers feel supported to develop their confidence and self-esteem. Researchers have found, for example, that university students experiencing low self-esteem can feel emotionally disengaged from their studies (Acosta-Gonzaga, 2023). Low confidence can also discourage researchers from taking on new opportunities that support their personal and professional development (Dore & Richards, 2024). Researchers are more likely to build their confidence and tackle imposter syndrome in an inclusive research environment (Stanford University, undated). Our Research Ambassador meetings therefore aim to create a supportive space where we can safely share our experiences, insights, and advice. Part of fostering this support centres on making our meetings inclusive; using accessible language and encouraging flexible participation.
At our last meeting, Research Ambassadors were invited to share their own experiences of when they felt unsure about their abilities as researchers. We then explored what approaches we used to boost our confidence in response to these feelings. Through our discussion, we put together recommendations to support other researchers to build their confidence. You can read our recommendations below!
- Develop a personal research toolkit of resources that support your learning and practice. This might include templates (e.g. for notetaking or data collection), helpful guides, links to training materials and examples of good research practice. You can also store feedback you’ve received so that you can revisit it.
- Document the skills you’ve developed as you take part in research. This can include both technical skills (e.g. literature searching, data collection) and transferable skills (e.g. communication, organisation, confidence speaking)
- Normalise feeling like a beginner. Remind yourself regularly that feeling unsure is a normal part of starting research, especially if you’re starting a new project on a topic or method you don’t have experience of or haven’t explored before. It’s okay if you don’t know everything at the beginning.
- Focus on progress and not comparison. Avoid comparing yourself to experienced researchers. Rather, measure your own progress against where you started.
- Value the contribution that your lived experience can make to research. Recognise that your experience (particularly in health and social care) offers real-world insight that academic research alone may not capture. You bring an understanding of patients, service users, and frontline practice that is essential for making research relevant and meaningful. It may be helpful to think about how you can change the mindset of your role from “learner” to “contributor”. Lived experience is expertise in its own right. Remind yourself that research benefits from a diversity of perspectives, not just academic ones.
- Build in support for your health and wellbeing. Identify someone supportive who you can talk to about your concerns. Build in activities across the course of your research that support your general wellbeing. This might involve booking in regular debriefs with your supervisor or line manager to discuss what you are working on and how it makes you feel. You can find more information about how to support your wellbeing as a researcher in this guide (Hammett et al., 2021).
- Recognise the value of feedback. It can sometimes feel intimidating to receive feedback from others. However, when feedback is constructive, it can be a valuable tool for understanding what you can build on to continue to grow. Identify trusted individuals who you can rely on to provide you with feedback on your research journey.
- Keep going! You may not feel confident in your research but there is often value in trying to finish a project regardless. You will always learn something, and it will help you to move on forward.
We hope these recommendations support other researchers to recognise their strengths and continue to develop their skills.
References
Acosta-Gonzaga, E. (2023) The Effects of Self-Esteem and Academic Engagement on University Students’ Performance. Behavioural Sciences 13(4).
Dore, E. & Richards, A. (2024) Empowering early career academics to overcome low confidence. International Journal for Academic Development 29:75-87.
Hammett, J. et al. (2021) Researcher Wellbeing: Guidelines for History Researchers. Available at https://researcherwellbeing.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/ [accessed 22 April 2026].
Stanford University (undated) Imposter syndrome. Available at https://ctl.stanford.edu/students/imposter-syndrome [accessed 10 April 2026]
Vitae (2010) Self-confidence. Available at https://vitae.ac.uk/resource/you-and-your-development/key-attributes-for-research-careers/the-importance-of-self-confidence-for-researchers/ [accessed 9 April 2026]