Combatting the Green-Eyed Monster: Imposter Syndrome and Jealost

Jealousy is an emotion which we all experience, in both our personal and professional lives. As a fourth-year PhD student, I have often experienced jealously when a peer has something published, gets a job, or receives an accolade. I know how competitive the academic job market is, and I feel under intense pressure to publish and get teaching experience as well as producing high-quality research in order to even have a chance at getting a job. So when I hear that a peer has achieved one of these things, my first feeling is frequently jealousy, and a sense that I will never be good enough. Doing a PhD is hard and often lonely, and I believe it is important that academics support and encourage each other. But how are we to do that when a peer’s good news evokes jealously and imposter syndrome within us?
In this paper, I want to explore the causes, implications, and possible solutions of academic jealousy. It is a cause or a symptom of imposter syndrome? Is it both? Is it getting worse as the neo-liberalisation of academia holds us to increasingly unobtainable standards? What impact does it have on us, our research, and our relationships with fellow academics? Are there ways that we can counter jealousy, or perhaps even channel it into something positive? We might not find any definitive answers, but I hope we will at least find comfort in the fact that we are not facing the green-eyed monster alone.