Women to Watch—Overcoming Imposterism: Smith and Reinhart discuss their experiences

I am an imposter.” This is how Julie Smith, senior research physicist in the Space Vehicles Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) on Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, begins her presentation, “Removing the Mask: Living With Imposter Syndrome.” She was invited to give this briefing at the November 2022 WIE Forum East conference by Forum cochair and her colleague at the AFRL, Felicia Harlow Reinhart, after Reinhart saw Smith speak to the Air Force’s women’s networking group, AFWiSE. Reinhart found the presentation impactful and knew it would resonate with the women attending the Forum, much as it did with AFWiSE members such as herself. Despite their different circumstances, both Smith and Reinhart say they suffer from imposterism, as Smith calls it, and know many other women do too.