Citation:Islam, S. M. Shafeeul., Hasan, Md. Mehedi., Chowdhury, Solaiman., Hasan, Mahmudul., Hasan, Abid. & Huda, Galib Safatul. (2025). Psychological Safety and Human Capital Management in Higher Education: The Mediating Influence of Employee Engagement. Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Management and Economics (ICME), Faculty of Management and Finance, University of Ruhuna, Matara, Sri Lanka, 667-702.
Date:2025-07-31
Abstract:
The study aims to examine the impact of psychological safety and human capital
management (HCM) practices on employee engagement in higher education, with a
focus on the mediating role of employee engagement. Adopting both social and
organizational perspectives in exploring the effect of having a supportive work
environment on staff engagement. The study used quantitative research methods to
gather information from 396 faculty members. The data was subsequently analyzed
through SEM. The results reveal that psychological safety fosters significantly more
engagement among employees. Leadership techniques, workforce optimization,
knowledge accessibility, and learning capacity have been found to assist employee
engagement. Additionally, employee engagement serves as a significant mediator
between psychological safety and key components of HCM, supporting the position
that employee engagement is critical in mediating organizational assets into
employee commitment and involvement. The results led to a realization of the
strategic priority for developing psychologically safe and resource-rich workplaces to
promote sustainable employee engagement. This study makes original contributions
by integrating the SET and RBV frameworks in a higher education context, which is
essential for enhancing theoretical explanations and practical applications, thereby
enabling academic leadership to improve workforce resilience and advance
institutional outcomes.
