Impostor phenomenon (IP) refers to feelings of fraud, incompetence, or failure experienced by successful, high-achieving individuals (Clance, 2013). Burnout is a psychological syndrome with three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal achievement (Maslach et al., 2001). Researchers have investigated IP among music education faculty (Sims & Cassidy, 2019), graduate students (Sims & Cassidy, 2020), and student teachers (Sorenson, 2022), as well as burnout in K-12 teachers (Nápoles et al., 2023). Music education researchers have explored burnout and IP (B&IP) concurrently (Nápoles et al., 2024); other fields have investigated the prevalence and negative effects among graduate students (Allen et al., 2022; Meredith et al., 2022; Parkman, 2016), though not in music education. Researchers recommend qualitative methods in future B&IP studies. Therefore, studying music education (MUED) graduate assistants’ B&IP—who are integral to music teacher education (MTE)—is worthwhile.This study investigated MUED GAs’ experiences navigating B&IP in roles as music teacher educators, researchers, and students. Research questions included:To what extent are dimensions of B&IP prevalent among participants?To what extent do demographics predict B&IP levels?How do participants describe experiences of B&IP?How do Strand II findings explain Strand I results to enrich understanding of B&IP?We employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods design (Creswell & Clark, 2017). Participants included current master’s and doctoral MUED GAs at NASM-accredited institutions. Strand I involves a survey with the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS), and demographic questions. Quantitative analyses include descriptive statistics, group comparisons, and correlations (Miksza & Elpus, 2018; Russell, 2018).Based on survey results, Strand II used purposeful sampling for semi-structured Zoom interviews (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016), recorded and transcribed, with inductive analysis coding, and a priori codes from Strand I (Saldaña, 2021). Trustworthiness measures included interrater reliability, member checking, and reflexive memoing. Data integration merged quantitative and qualitative strands for “breadth and depth of understanding and corroboration” (Creswell & Clark, 2017, p. 4), leading to meta-inferences about B&IP among MUED GAs.Results indicate varying levels of B&IP among multiple demographics and align with conference themes, highlighting the need to examine B&IP experiences to support inclusivity and connection across music education. Implications address theme goals by exploring the wellbeing needs of current and future MTEs, particularly MUED graduate assistants, where investigating “factors of psychological and/or physical health” (Sims & Cassidy, 2020, p. 260) is essential to developing further supports and interventions.