2026 Theses Doctoral

Traversing the Transition: Exploring Psychological Safety in Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP)’s Pre-Freshman Summer Program

Lin, Mandy

This qualitative study examined how psychological safety was experienced within the mandatory pre-freshman summer component of the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) at a participating East Coast college. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with members of the HEOP Class of 2029, the study explored the facilitators and barriers that shaped students’ willingness to speak up, take academic risks, and engage during a high-stakes transition period in which successful completion of the program was required for fall matriculation.

A purposive sampling strategy was used to recruit members of the HEOP Class of 2029 who completed the summer program. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted via Zoom and analyzed using an inductive thematic framework. The analytic process incorporated in-vivo coding, allowing domains and themes to emerge from participants’ language rather than being imposed through a pre-existing structure. The flexibility of the interview format enabled participants to elaborate on complex or sensitive experiences that may not have been captured through quantitative methods. Following each interview, a member-checking process was conducted in which participants reviewed key takeaways to ensure accurate representation of their perspectives. This step strengthened the credibility of the findings and supported participants’ comfort with how their views were presented. In total, 26 eligible participants completed interviews during the fall 2025 semester.

Findings indicated that psychological safety was fostered through consistent relational support, clear academic expectations, and structured community-building experiences. Participants described feeling more willing to ask questions, admit confusion, and express uncertainty when faculty, peers, and staff communicated care, respect, and belief in their potential. At the same time, students identified internal hesitations, inconsistent authority dynamics, cumulative exhaustion, and structural stressors as factors that limited their sense of safety. It is important to note that participants did not describe these challenges as defining the program overall, but as difficulties that occurred within an otherwise supportive and inclusive environment. Psychological safety did not eliminate risk within this evaluative context. Rather, it enabled students to take interpersonal risks without fear of negative social or academic consequences.

The study contributes to psychological safety literature by demonstrating how safety operates within a high-stakes educational setting, extending prior work rooted in organizational contexts. It also contributes to scholarship on college transition by positioning psychological safety as a mechanism through which EOP summer bridge programs support engagement, persistence, and adjustment among first-generation and low-income students. Implications for practice include strengthening staff preparation, integrating accessible mental health resources, and balancing academic rigor with structured opportunities for recovery. Future research should examine longitudinal outcomes, cross-institutional variation, and multi-stakeholder perspectives to further clarify how psychological safety develops and is sustained within programs designed to expand access to higher education.