Good Girl Economics
A research colaboration with Nicky Denson-Elliott and The Wilder Collective, during the summer of 2025 we asked hundreds of women to take part in this research looking at Internalised Misogyny. This is our first white paper.
Talking about money stirs up childhood lessons about being fair, being kind, not making a fuss. And yet, when we spoke to women business owners, what we found wasn’t a confidence gap. They knew their worth. But years of trying to be reasonable, to stay likeable, to smooth the edges, have a way of creeping into pricing.
Somewhere along the way, being a good girl started costing more than it should. Psychologically, our research shows a clear profit shaped gap between belief and behaviour.
The survey data told us what women believe: that they’re capable, competent, and deserving.
The interviews showed us how those beliefs play out in practice: cautious pricing, moral pressure, and the quiet art of charging “just enough.”
Our white paper, On the Cusp: The Psychology of Charging Just Enough, dives into that complexity and tension, where care gets tangled with fear, and where money becomes the mirror of our conditioning.
Profit is the new pay gap, and naming it is the first step to closing it.
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On the Cusp: The psychology of charging 'Just Enough'
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A feminist foreward
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Executive Summary
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Pricing is Just Enough
Imposter Phenomenon
Imposter Phenomenon
One of the first studies to ask women entrepreneurs about their experiences of Imposter Phenomenon.
The research was presented at the British Psychological Society CyberPsychology Section Conference 2022.
Abstract
The prevalence of Imposter Phenomenon amongst high achievers has been widely reported across professions from academia to the board room, studies have focused on both the individual and organisational characteristics that result in people feeling like a fraud in comparison to peers. The contemporary experiences of women entrepreneurs navigating the online world of work, however, remain largely unexamined. This study explores the experience of women who are part of online communities for entrepreneurs. Semi-structured online synchronous interviews were conducted with 15 women recruited from online communities. Transcript data was analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three superordinate themes emerged: 1) The visibility trap, 2) coping with comparison, and 3) online level playing field. Our findings reveal how women with Imposter Phenomenon who are members of an online community benefit from deeper online connections with peers, the buffering effect online communities have from the visibility trap of social media, and the positive effect of being online, as a woman entrepreneur, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of these findings contribute to understanding the ways in which women cope with comparison, barriers facing women in modern day entrepreneurship, and highlight the role of online peer networks in creating psychologically safe spaces for women entrepreneurs to take risks, and the lessons learned from the pandemic. The preservation of cultural experiences in data collection is discussed along with online community involvement in the research.
to cite this work
Ainge, Leila & Newman, Kristina. (2022). ‘There’s no comparison’ The experiences of women entrepreneurs with Imposter Phenomenon in online communities. 10.13140/RG.2.2.20875.98089.