Psychological Safety: Creating a Transformative Culture in a Faculty Group Peer-Mentoring Intervention

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Organizational Psychology
• Social Sciences

Background:

• Psychological safety (PS) is crucial for faculty development in academic medicine.
• Mid-career faculty often face unique challenges impacting their work environment.
• Existing interventions may not adequately address PS in this demographic.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a group peer mentoring intervention on psychological safety among academic medicine research faculty.
• To identify key components of the intervention that contribute to enhanced psychological safety.

Main Methods:

• Randomized controlled study involving 40 mid-career academic medicine research faculty.
• Year-long C-Change Mentoring & Leadership Institute intervention.
• Quantitative surveys (pre- and post-intervention) and qualitative data (observations, interviews, writings).
• Codebook thematic analysis with psychological safety as a sensitizing concept.

Main Results:

• Mean psychological safety scores increased significantly from 5.6 at baseline to 6.1 post-intervention (p=.005).
• Qualitative analysis revealed that intervention structure, curriculum, and facilitation fostered norms of sharing, trust, and belonging.
• Psychological safety enabled faculty to be authentic, vulnerable, and develop social bonds.

Conclusions:

• Group peer mentoring is an effective strategy for enhancing psychological safety in academic medicine.
• Intervention design elements such as structure, curriculum, and facilitation are key drivers of psychological safety.
• Improved psychological safety supports faculty well-being, authenticity, and community development.