Learning from errors is a central yet context-sensitive component of professional learning in practice-based phases of training. Trainee teachers, resident physicians, and trainee lawyers, are required to perform complex tasks under conditions of high responsibility (Gensch & Waltenberger, 2006; Referendariatskommission, 2025; Rothland & Walter, 2023). Errors are therefore a common feature of everyday work and training, often associated with substantial consequences. At the same time, research on workplace learning and error management emphasizes that errors can constitute important opportunities for learning when they are identified, reflected upon, and addressed constructively (Cannon & Edmondson, 2005; Hetzner et al., 2011).

This contribution examines learning from errors across professional training contexts using a cross-professional comparative perspective. Rather than employing comparison to describe differences between professional groups, the study conceptualizes comparison as an analytical strategy for examining how social and organizational learning conditions relate to error competence across different contextual configurations. The central research question is how feedback-seeking behavior toward supervisors and colleagues and psychological safety at supervisory and team levels are associated with error competence, and to what extent these relationships vary across professional training contexts.

The study focuses on three practice-based training contexts in Germany: teacher training in the preparatory service, postgraduate medical training during the first year of residency, and the legal clerkship. These contexts share key characteristics relevant to learning from errors, including workplace-based learning, close supervision, and high performance demands, while differing in institutional arrangements such as hierarchical structures, evaluation practices, and feedback cultures.

Conceptually, the study draws on research on informal workplace learning, psychological safety, and error orientation. Learning at work is understood as largely informal and socially embedded, relying on participation in work practices, interaction with others, and engagement with concrete work experiences (Stenström & Tynjälä, 2009). Feedback and reflection have been identified as central mechanisms of informal workplace learning, particularly in complex and evaluative contexts (Ellström, 2001).

Feedback-seeking behavior is conceptualized as a proactive and goal-oriented activity through which individuals monitor or inquire about information to reduce uncertainty, correct errors, and develop competence, while simultaneously considering potential social costs such as loss of face and interpersonal risk (Ashford & Cummings, 1983; Brown, 2014).

As engagement in such learning activities is shaped by interpersonal relations, the study draws on the concept of psychological safety, defined as a shared belief that speaking up, asking questions, and admitting mistakes is possible without fear of negative consequences (Edmondson, 1999). Prior research highlights the role of leadership behavior and everyday interactions in shaping perceived interpersonal risk and participation in learning-related activities (Nembhard & Edmondson, 2006).

From an error management perspective, orientations toward errors are linked to learning and adaptation in complex work environments (Frese & Keith, 2015). Research on error orientation conceptualizes dealing with errors as a multidimensional phenomenon encompassing cognitive, behavioral, and emotional aspects (Huish, 2011; Rybowiak et al., 1999). Building on this conceptualization, the present study operationalizes error-related competence using selected scales of the Error Orientation Questionnaire (EOQ) and examines how psychological safety and access to feedback are associated with error competence across professional training contexts.

The study employs a cross-sectional quantitative design based on an ongoing online survey, the Bavarian Graduate Study, conducted in Bavaria, Germany, from October 2025 to March 2026. The targets are graduates of six universities in Bavaria, one year after graduation, who are trainee teachers in the preparatory service, physicians in their first year of postgraduate medical training, or legal trainees in the legal clerkship. Based on prior studies, each subsample will include approximately 150 participants. Error competence is operationalized using selected scales of the EOQ (Rybowiak et al., 1999), capturing cognitive, behavioral, and emotional orientations toward errors. Feedback-seeking behavior is measured separately for interactions with supervisors and with colleagues, drawing on established self-report instruments based on the conceptualization by Kahmann (2009). Psychological safety is assessed at two levels: supervisory psychological safety and team-level psychological safety, using adapted versions from Gartmeier (2010) of the scale developed by Edmondson (1999). All items are measured using Likert-type response scales. Identical instruments are applied across professional groups to ensure comparability. Given the cross-professional design, particular attention is paid to the interpretation of key roles (e.g., supervisors) across contexts during analysis. Data analysis focuses on explanatory relationships between learning conditions and error competence. Regression-based models are estimated to examine associations between feedback-seeking behavior, psychological safety, and error competence. Interaction terms are used to test whether these associations differ across professional training contexts. This modelling strategy allows for identifying context-specific patterns while avoiding purely descriptive group comparisons.

This study contributes to research on professional learning by examining how engagement with errors is shaped by social and organizational conditions in practice-based professional training contexts. By adopting a cross-professional comparative perspective, it situates learning from errors within different institutional and organizational arrangements rather than treating it as a context-independent process. The findings are expected to contribute to research on professional learning by highlighting the importance of social and relational conditions for constructive engagement with errors in high-stakes training environments. In particular, they are likely to show that feedback-seeking and psychological safety are systematically related to error competence, while the strength and configuration of these relationships vary across professional contexts characterized by different hierarchies, evaluation practices, and feedback cultures. Beyond substantive insights, the study contributes methodologically by demonstrating the analytical value of cross-professional comparison for explaining learning processes rather than merely describing differences between groups. Focusing on explanatory relationships allows for identifying learning conditions that appear robust across contexts as well as those that are context-sensitive. For the Emerging Researchers’ Conference, the presentation offers an empirically grounded contribution to discussions on professional learning, workplace-based training, and the role of organizational conditions in shaping learning from errors. It also provides a basis for discussing how comparative designs can be used productively in educational research to examine learning processes across institutional contexts.

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