CTC director explores impact of credentials on high school job placement in doctoral dissertation

Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center director Brock Crowley recently finished and presented his dissertation to earn a doctorate in educational leadership from William Woods University in Fulton.

Crowley’s dissertation covered the impact of industry-recognized credentials on job placement for high school students. Crowley said he focused specifically on secondary education because there has “been a lot of research on post-secondary” and he wanted to see whether receiving various credentials made a difference when searching for a job.

“I wanted to specifically look at secondary education because we're spending a lot of money,” Crowley said. “It's a state initiative and local initiative to get industry credentialing. There's been a gap in the workforce lately, as we all know, so that's a big deal. How could credentialing potentially impact that? That's why I chose the topic.”

After spending approximately one year researching and compiling data to produce his dissertation, Crowley — who is in his seventh year at CTC and his third as director — found employers in Southeast Missouri are less focused on whether a student is credentialed and, instead, look at the experience students gained along the way.

“The 10 career centers in Southeast Missouri is kind of what I looked at,” Crowley said. “Certainly, credentialing impacts students in a positive manner, but it doesn't necessarily impact a secondary population on employment immediately following the Career and Technology Center, in particular, if you don't include adults.”

Crowley said the process of receiving his doctorate was "nerve-wracking." After completing 18 to 24 hours of coursework, the COVID-19 pandemic brought everything to a halt. During that time, Crowley took a step back from his dissertation to focus on things at CTC. After picking it back up last December, he was able to complete the document.

“I had a basis,” he said. “When I went through my coursework, I had written the first three chapters. The problem is, when you write the first three chapters and then submit it to your chair to start looking at, they start picking it apart. Essentially, and maybe other people are better, I ended up having to redo most of that. …

“When I picked it back up, it took me about a full year to get through the proposal, then do my research, then defend it. It's a long process.”

Ahead of defending his dissertation, Crowley’s anxiety set in, but previous discussions with his colleagues at Cape Girardeau Public Schools gave him a vote of confidence going into the meeting. After defending his thesis to the committee — made up of William Woods assistant professor and chair of Doctoral Studies Frank Giuseffi, adjunct faculty member Cynthia Amick and assistant professor Kristee Lorenz — via Zoom, he was placed in a virtual waiting room while they discussed his presentation. Upon returning to the call, Crowley’s department chair attempted to present the results, but their internet connection kept causing their screen and audio to freeze.

“She started to tell me and, finally, one of the other committee members, one of them was at the university, I think, and the other one was Zooming from home. But Dr. Giuseffi finally said, ‘You passed.’ He said, ‘I'm sorry, Dr. Amick, but you were freezing. I thought, ‘I can't make him wait any longer.’”

Earning a doctorate was a personal goal of Crowley, who made sure to thank his wife and children for their support throughout the process.

“As a personal goal, I did want to complete this for myself and my family,” Crowley said. “It's a cool thing, and my kids and wife have been awesome. They've been very supportive. I have to give my wife, Monique, in particular, all the credit for supporting me in that, putting up without me being there a lot, and wrangling five kids and taking them to practices and events and all kinds of things.”