What happens when students don't dare to ask questions, share thoughts and ideas, or challenge established truths? Our experience is that many students hesitate to engage actively in learning activities due to fear of judgment, failure, or exclusion. Be it in classrooms, projects or group work, this hesitation seems to be linked to the students’ fear of how teachers or other students might respond. Furthermore, it might hamper both students’ and the whole class’s learning potential, as it leads to less discussion and voices around the subject in question. We believe that the students’ hesitation is related to a lack of psychological safety, which inhibits learning and undermine academic and personal development and growth. Psychological safety is a shared belief that one can speak up, take risks, and show vulnerability without fear of negative consequences, and is recognized as a key factor for effective learning, innovation, and mental health. We believe that fostering psychological safety through increasing our understanding of which learning activities effectively promote psychological safety, can enhance students' sense of well-being and belonging, improve academic performance, and elevate overall knowledge acquisition.

This presentation highlights practical strategies that educators and institutions can implement to create inclusive and psychologically safe learning environments. By prioritizing psychological safety in higher education, we can empower students to engage more fully, support one another, and develop both academically and personally. A psychologically safe classroom is not only a space for knowledge acquisition, but a foundation for courage, connection, and lifelong learning.

The strategies are drawn from our project “Psychological Safety Among Students” at Østfold University College, Norway, where the aim was to explore how we can create psychologically safe learning environments that give students the opportunity to thrive academically and emotionally in class, groups and teams. Data were collected through field observations during group activities, student surveys and interviews with students, academic staff and field supervisors.

Our findings show that students perceive a clear connection between psychological safety and essential aspects of the learning experience, including academic performance, sense of belonging, collaboration, openness, and emotional well-being. Many students expressed a desire for learning environments where mistakes are treated as opportunities for growth, and where they are met with goodwill rather than resistance when they voice uncertainty or alternative viewpoints. Students and staff identified a range of measures that can help foster psychological safety. These include a stronger emphasis on inclusion, clearer expectations, dedicated social arenas, rotation in group composition, team-based learning activities, and regular low-threshold conversations between students and academic staff. The combination of academic and social initiatives was seen as particularly effective in building trust and reducing anxiety.

Keywords: Psychological safety, higher education, learning environment, mental well-being, student engagement, academic performance.