Psychological distress can influence a student's decision-making process regarding whether to persist in their academic journey. This study examined the influence of achievement goals and imposter syndrome on female STEM college students’ psychological distress. It involved 395 participants, with 37.72% identifying as minoritized and 44.05% as first-generation students, who completed an online survey. Findings of structural equation modeling indicated that higher imposter syndrome levels mediated the link between performance-avoidance and mastery-avoidance goals and psychological distress. Conversely, emphasizing mastery-approach goals was linked to lower imposter syndrome levels, reducing psychological distress. Multigroup analyses revealed these effects were consistent across different student groups, regardless of their minoritized status. But these effects are different between first-generation and continuing-generation college students. This suggests that educational institutions can implement strategies to support the mental wellbeing and retention of female STEM students.

中文翻译：

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STEM 女学生的成就目标、冒名顶替综合症和心理困扰：结构方程模型

心理困扰会影响学生是否继续学业的决策过程。本研究探讨了成就目标和冒名顶替综合症对女性 STEM 大学生心理困扰的影响。共有 395 名参与者完成了在线调查，其中 37.72% 为少数族裔，44.05% 为第一代学生。结构方程模型的结果表明，较高的冒名顶替综合症水平介导了表现回避和掌握回避目标与心理困扰之间的联系。相反，强调掌握方法目标与降低冒名顶替综合症水平有关，从而减少心理困扰。多组分析显示，这些影响在不同的学生群体中是一致的，无论他们的少数地位如何。但这些影响在第一代大学生和下一代大学生之间是不同的。这表明教育机构可以实施战略来支持 STEM 女学生的心理健康和保留率。