Universities are ‘wintering’: we need psychological safety more than ever

In February 2025, De Montfort University vice-chancellor Katie Normington wrote about the wintering of universities. And although the UK is amid a heatwave as I write this, universities appear to be wintering still, 18 months later. The process of considering what we do as institutions to react to this time of uncertainty and create sustainable futures continues – as if the sector were stuck in a persistent fallow period – with the challenges ever increasing. Falling study visas mean fewer international students will be coming to the UK, with significant financial implications for universities; there’s a reduction in student numbers and most worryingly the Education Select Committee has stated that 24 institutions are at risk of insolvency in the next 12 months. 

It is clear the situation is not good. 

Yet, while all this is happening, academic, professional services and technical staff are working hard to provide the best student experience. So, university leadership teams need to ensure their institutions maintain and promote psychological safety, and this time of “wintering” is an ideal opportunity to think about how to do this. 

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Professor of management and organisations William Kahn defined psychological safety as “feeling able to show and employ oneself without fear of negative consequences to self-image, status or career”. In other words, it means creating an environment where students and staff feel safe to raise concerns, share ideas and show vulnerability without feeling it will disadvantage them in any way. Psychological safety is more important than ever as staff deal with the uncertainty of higher education and students navigate the cost-of-living crisis and increasing mental health concerns.

University leadership teams can promote psychological safety within their institutions in many ways. Here are five places to begin: 

1. Practise transparent and open leadership

People like to know what is happening within their organisation. Having leadership teams who deliver clear, informative messages about changes and why these have been implemented fosters psychological safety, as does encouraging staff to ask questions and share their concerns. It makes staff feel they are part of the process. This is essential in a climate when many universities in the UK are having to make cuts through voluntary severance, course closures, role freezes and restructures. For example, listening sessions allow senior staff to meet with smaller groups and surveys provide opportunity to feed back. 

2. Support staff and students with protected characteristics

It is well known that staff with disabilities face additional challenges to their non-disabled colleagues, as do staff from ethnic minorities. Also, colleagues from LGBTQ+ backgrounds still face discrimination within the sector. For universities to be places of psychological safety, support and environments must clearly and transparently include individuals with protected characteristics. That means making individuals feel safe to have conversations around disability, for example, without fear of judgement and putting in place measures that ensure they do not need to navigate their disability for those around them. Training around diversity co-created with individuals from those groups is also important. A co-creation approach to this training ensures the voices of those groups are represented early on. 

3. Make psychological safety part of institutional strategy and committee agendas

University strategy often works on a five-year cycle. This structure gives many people the opportunity to feed into the strategy, and address concerns about the sector, as it develops. In a world where higher education is changing and evolving under uncertain conditions, students and staff need to feel able to contribute ideas to institution-level strategies and feel safe that their voices will be listened to. 

For example, at De Montfort, the Empowering University strategy was co-created among students, staff and stakeholders.   

Most universities have committees relating to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and sexual misconduct and harassment. Ways to promote psychological safety on campus should be embedded as standard agenda items into those committees. People need to feel safe to be able to speak up when they are facing difficulties and that if they do report bullying or harassment, either as a student or staff member, they will experience a supportive process. Committees can promote safe environments through the use of anonymous feedback and having subcommittees to focus on key issues such as psychological safety. 

4. Provide informal routes for raising concerns and resources to help students and staff feel psychologically safe   

In addition to formal systems for raising concerns, such as grievance and reporting processes, staff and students also need opportunities to make their voice heard informally in a safe and protected environment. This could be through EDI teams or school/faculty leads. These informal routes can work through question asking. For example, a staff member could ask for more support in providing information around reasonable adjustments to their line manager. 

Clear resources to help people feel psychologically safe could include employee-assist programmes. This provision differs from informal routes as it focuses on guidance to maintain psychological safety at work, how and when to share sensitive information with colleagues, and information for staff on how to respond if a student or colleague does disclose. Clear guidance should be in place before it is needed. Processes for students at risk, for example, are different from the guidance needed for staff on what to do if a colleague reveals their need for support. 

The higher education sector is undergoing a challenging period, a situation that probably won’t change any time soon. Ensuring that psychological safety is a founding principle is critical for universities during this time. 

Meredith Wilkinson is a senior lecturer in psychology at De Montfort University. She is also co-chair of the DisAbility and Wellbeing Network and chair of the Disabled Women in Academia Group, a sub-group of the National Association of Disabled Staff Networks.  

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