Psychological Safety: The Foundation for Early-Career Success

By Tanya Andrews, Founder of Trellis Collective

When we talk about safety in the workplace, most people immediately think of physical safety: hard hats, PPE, hazard assessments. And while those are critical, they’re just one piece of the puzzle.

For early-career women navigating male-dominated industries, safety isn’t just about avoiding physical harm. It’s about psychological safety. The ability to speak up, ask questions, make mistakes, and contribute without fear of punishment or humiliation.

Psychological safety isn’t just a buzzword. It’s the difference between an employee who thrives and one who quietly disengages.

The Hidden Risk: What Happens Without Psychological Safety?

Early-career women enter the workforce with ambition and drive. They want to contribute, grow, and make an impact. But too often, they find themselves in environments where:

• Asking a question feels like admitting incompetence. 
• Challenging an idea feels risky, as if they’ll be perceived as difficult rather than insightful.
• They hold back valuable contributions because they aren’t sure if their voice belongs in the room.
• Mistakes feel like career-ending events rather than learning experiences. 

And when women don’t feel safe to engage fully, the cost is significant, not just for them, but for the businesses that lose out on their ideas, innovation, and leadership potential.

Psychological Safety Is More Than "Being Nice"

Creating a psychologically safe environment doesn’t mean eliminating challenges or avoiding discomfort. It’s not about shielding people from failure. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

It means creating a culture where failure is part of learning, where asking questions is expected, and where employees, especially those in the early stages of their careers, feel safe enough to take risks that lead to growth.

At Trellis Collective, we break psychological safety into four key areas:

1: INCLUSION SAFETY

Women need to feel like they belong in the room before they’ll engage fully. That means:

- Ensuring their voices are invited into discussions.
- Expressing curiosity about their perspectives.
- Actively respecting their boundaries.

Without inclusion safety, early-career women may show up, but they won’t fully participate in their workplaces.

2: LEARNER SAFETY

Early-career employees are hired to learn. Yet, many arrive with perfectionism instilled from years of education and a fear of not having all the answers.

Managers play a critical role in reinforcing that:
- Not knowing something isn’t failure, it’s expected.
- Progress matters more than perfection.
- Growth happens through feedback, not just praise.

One simple yet powerful exercise? Regularly acknowledging learning moments in team meetings. When leaders share what they’ve recently learned, it normalises the fact that no one, regardless of seniority, has all the answers.

3: CONTRIBUTOR SAFETY

Speaking up in a room full of experienced professionals can be intimidating. Contributor safety is about ensuring that early-career women feel safe to share ideas without fear of being dismissed or overlooked.

- Invite participation: Ask junior employees for input rather than waiting for them to offer it.
- Create space for learning: Instead of immediately critiquing, first acknowledge effort and insight.
- Make feedback a two-way street: A simple “Do you mind if I give you a tip on that?” before offering constructive criticism builds trust and receptivity.

4: CHALLENGER SAFETY

This is where true innovation happens. Women, and all employees, should feel safe to challenge ideas, question processes, and propose better ways of working.

One way to encourage this?
-Assign someone in meetings the role of "Devil’s Advocate.” Give early-career women explicit permission to challenge ideas, ensuring that dissent isn’t just tolerated: it’s valued.

When challenge is welcomed, workplaces stop operating on autopilot and start innovating.

What Businesses Gain When Psychological Safety Is Prioritised

A psychologically safe workplace isn’t just good for employees, it’s good for business.

When early-career women feel safe to learn, contribute, and challenge ideas, organisations benefit from:

• Higher retention: because employees feel valued and invested in.
• Better decision-making: because people speak up when something doesn’t seem right.
• More innovation: because new ideas aren’t stifled by fear of failure.
• Stronger leadership pipelines: because women build the confidence to step into leadership roles.

At Trellis Collective, we’ve seen firsthand that when psychological safety is prioritised, women don’t just stay in their industries, they thrive in them.

Psychological safety isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a business imperative.

The question is: Are we creating workplaces where early-career women feel safe enough to reach their full potential?

If we want to see more women stepping into leadership, staying in industries where they are underrepresented, and bringing their full potential to work, psychological safety must come first.