{"689859":{"#nid":"689859","#data":{"type":"event","title":" Ph.D. Proposal Defense \u2013Candace Washington","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECollege of Design \u2013 School of Building Construction \u2013 Ph.D. Proposal Defense \u2013Candace Washington\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDate:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Friday, May 1st, 2026\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETime:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E12:00 pm- 2:00 pm\u0026nbsp;Eastern Time\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELocation:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EMicrosoft Teams\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDr. Ece Erdogmus, Founding Dean, College of Architecture, Art, and Construction, Clemson University (co-advisor and co-committee chair)\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDr. Eunhwa Yang, School of Building Construction, College of Design, Georgia Institute of Technology (co-advisor and co-committee chair)\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDr. Jing Wen, School of Building Construction, College of Design, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDr. Carol Colatrella,\u0026nbsp; School of Literature, Media, and Communication, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDr. Heidi Diefus-Dux,\u0026nbsp; Department of Biological Systems Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Nebraska\u2013Lincoln\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETitle\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEnhancing High School Counselors\u2019 Knowledge and Confidence in Promoting Construction Management Careers: A Mixed Method Study\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. construction industry faces a significant and escalating shortage of construction management (CM) professionals driven by an aging workforce, increasing project demand and complexity, and a limited pipeline of students entering CM degree programs. These challenges are further compounded by disconnects between industry workforce needs and the career guidance students receive in high school settings. Although CM offers stable and high-opportunity career pathways, many students remain unaware of the profession. High school counselors, who play a critical role in shaping students\u2019 postsecondary trajectories, often report limited knowledge of CM and low confidence in advising students about CM career pathways. These advising gaps restrict students\u2019 access to CM opportunities and contribute to long-term workforce shortages.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo address these gaps, this study investigates how targeted professional development influences high school counselors\u2019 confidence in advising students about construction management careers. The professional development intervention incorporates structured CM instructional content alongside an experiential learning component using a virtual reality (VR) module derived from the NSF-funded Virtual\/Augmented-Reality-Based Discipline Exploration Rotations (VADER-R) project. While VR-based tools have been explored for student recruitment, their application in counselor-focused professional development remains limited.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGrounded in Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), this mixed-methods study focuses on counselor self-efficacy as the primary construct of interest. The study develops and validates a construction management\u2013specific adaptation of the Career Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale (CCSES-CM) to measure counselors\u2019 confidence in advising students about CM pathways. In the quantitative phase, a pre\u2013post design is used to assess changes in counselors\u2019 CM advising self-efficacy following participation in the professional development workshop. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews are conducted with a sample of participants to further explore how the intervention influenced their confidence, perceptions, and advising intentions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe anticipated contributions of this study are threefold. First, it provides a validated, discipline-specific instrument (CCSES-CM) for measuring counselor self-efficacy in construction management advising. Second, it offers empirical evidence on how targeted professional development can strengthen counselors\u2019 confidence in promoting workforce-critical career pathways. Third, it presents a scalable and adaptable professional development model that can be implemented by school districts, higher education institutions, and workforce development organizations. By strengthening counselors\u2019 capacity to communicate accurate, relevant CM career information, this research supports improved alignment between educational advising systems and the construction industry\u0027s\u0026nbsp;workforce needs.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEnhancing High School Counselors\u2019 Knowledge and Confidence in Promoting Construction Management Careers: A Mixed Method Study\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Enhancing High School Counselors\u2019 Knowledge and Confidence in Promoting Construction Management Careers: A Mixed Method Study"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2026-04-19 01:27:20","changed_gmt":"2026-04-19 01:28:14","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2026-05-01T12:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2026-05-01T14:00:04-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2026-05-01T14:00:04-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2026-05-01 16:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2026-05-01 18:00:04","gmt_time_end_last":"2026-05-01 18:00:04","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"TEAMS","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"102851","name":"Phd proposal"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}