Strategies to Create Equity-Focused Psychologically Safe Climates

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) examines strategies to create equity-focused psychologically safe climates within post-secondary institutions. Organizational environments that are marked by high stress, professional hierarchies, and pressure to provide high-quality service, such as those within post-secondary institutions, benefit the most from strategic psychological safety interventions. Yet, many organizations are unsuccessful in creating psychologically safe environments because they have not applied an equity lens (Foley at al., 2002; Singh et al., 2013). A one-size-fits-all approach to psychological safety often exacerbates systemic inequities and barriers which have disproportionate negative impacts on marginalized students and employees (Singh et al., 2013). This OIP aims to apply an equity lens to psychological safety and deconstruct ways of advancing equity-focused psychological safety via leadership development. An inclusive leadership lens is used to identify possible solutions to the problem, framing equity and psychological safety as a core leadership function in pursuit of social justice. Kotter’s Eight Step Change Model and Bridges’ Transition Model are used to frame change implementation and change activities. Gaventa’s (2006) power cube framework is used to explore, understand, and position how spaces for engagement and communication are impacted by power.