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April 15, 2026
Dissertation Defense: Steven Ring
schedule8:00am - 8:00am
The College of Education has scheduled the final oral examination of Steven Ring for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Teaching, Learning, and Technology. The title of the dissertation is “Selection and Determination of Structured Post-Secondary Workforce Education Paths through Measurement of Self-Efficacy, Outcome Expectations and Goal Orientation.”
The findings of the dissertation study position sociocognitive constructs as meaningful markers of differentiation within post-secondary workforce education, while clarifying that differences are not uniformly explained by broad pathway categories or demographic moderation. Instead, the combined results suggest that pathway-level differences are most evident for self-efficacy and outcome expectations, whereas within-apprenticeship differentiation is more limited at the grouping level but may emerge through goal orientation for select trade pathways. Across both manuscripts, age-related patterns were the most consistent, indicating that younger participants may represent a priority group for supports intended to strengthen career-related confidence, expectations, and goal clarity within workforce training settings.
