Why do so many women experience "impostor syndrome"?

The term “imposter syndrome” was originally coined by Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes in their landmark 1978 study of 150 highly successful professional women in various fields. Clance and Imes note: “Despite accolades, rank, and salary, these women felt like phonies. They didn’t believe in their own accomplishments; they felt they were scamming everyone about their skills.” Thirty years later, Pinker in her 2008 book interviews many highly successful women who also feel the same way about their success. What is remarkable about the imposter syndrome is the massive sex difference: Many successful women experience it, while very few successful men do. In the second part of the three-part review of Pinker’s book, we end with the question: “Why do so many highly accomplished women feel they are frauds, imposters, and phonies when their male counterparts don’t?”