Thriving, Not Just Surviving: The Power of Psychological Safety

Psychological safety focuses on creating supportive and open environments that foster belonging and inclusion, with signs including feeling like ideas can be openly shared and taking informed risks throughout one’s life and career journey. During this session, you will learn practical strategies and resources to help you make informed decisions for the next opportunity that comes up for you, with wellness and agency as key factors. We'll discuss the role of psychological safety in organizations as a tool and strategy to help you discern whether or not an organizational culture aligns with your values.

After this session, you will be able to:

• Define psychological safety and identify how it shows up (or not) in an environment
• Develop strategies for learning whether an environment will be psychologically safe
• Learn tools and resources that are available at the University of British Columbia to support your well-being

Please note this session will not be recorded. Join us live to get the most out of the session.

Facilitator:

Joanne Lieu (she/her/cô) has over 10 years of experience in assessment and curriculum design, specifically focusing on career and professional development. Currently, she works within the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering at the University of Toronto as the Graduate Professional Development Coordinator. Previously, she worked in multiple divisions within Student Life to support programming, curriculum design, and assessment. Within academic units at the University of Toronto, she has worked to enhance admissions pathways and support internal organizational improvement through EDI audit tools and frameworks. Beyond the University of Toronto, she was previously contracted by York University and Humber College to support educational and career development initiatives, respectively.

Her previous educational background includes a Ph.D., ME.d., B.Ed, and H.B.Sc from the University of Toronto. Her most recent article, “How being a caregiver changes your graduate school experience,” from Responsibilities May Include, highlights her focus on addressing and bridging equity gaps within professional development, specifically career development.