DISSERTATION DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONSTRUCTION TRAINING ATTITUDES AND INTENTIONS SCALE Submitted by Jonathan W. Elliott School of Education In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Fall 2013 Doctoral Committee: Advisor: Gene Gloeckner Co-Advisor: Carla Lopez Del Puerto Carole Makela Kelly Strong Copyright by Jonathan W. Elliott 2013 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONSTRUCTION TRAINING ATTITUDES AND INTENTIONS SCALE The events of the Great Recession (2007-2009) have resulted in high unemployment and underemployment rates in the United States and abroad. The plight of domestic young adults, particularly young men with few work-related skills, is evident. Failing to receive a first job has long-term negative consequences for these individuals and their families. In the United States, job opportunities exist for properly trained individuals in the construction industry, which is currently experiencing a shortage of skilled labor. Recognition of the unemployment situation and job opportunity in new construction, renovation, and maintenance of existing infrastructure has led to the creation of publicly funded construction skills training programs that target young adults (16-24 years). However, despite the great deal of effort and funding, participant retention is a significant problem and dropout rates ranging between 45-65% have been reported. Training practitioners posit that no model exists for predicting performance and attrition of individuals in training and express the desire for a metric that measures individual characteristics to better inform individual training successes. A review of literature revealed no instrument for predicting performance, completion, or attrition of the unemployed in training. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to develop an internally consistent and valid instrument that measures the appropriate constructs to inform and predict human behavior within the domain of construction training for the unemployed. The resulting instrument, the Construction Training Attitudes and Intentions Scale (CTAIS), was developed through two phases. ii The CTAIS was complete by construction management undergraduate students (N = 247) during phase one. The purpose of phase one was to reduce the number of CTAIS items (N = 98) using inter-item correlations and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). An evaluation of the internal consistency and validity was conducted on the reduced pool of CTAIS items. Phase one resulted in a 44-items CTAIS, which contain four emergent factors: planned training behavior (PTB), construction training self-efficacy (CTSE), training motivation attitudes (TMA), and training locus of control (TLOC). The CTAIS and its factors PTB, CTSE, TMA, and TLOC were found to be internally consistent (α = 0.926, 0.943, 0.942, 0.941, and 0.829, respectively). Face and convergent construct validity were shown through significant (p < 0.01) correlations between the emergent factors that mirrored those found in previous construct validation research. The 44-item CTAIS was administered during phase two to a separate group of undergraduate construction management students (N = 174). The internal consistency of the 44- item CTAIS (α = 0.902) and PTB, CTSE, TMA, and TLOC factors (α = 0.909, 0.950, 0.925, and 0.832, respectively) were confirmed in phase two. Significant (p < 0.01) correlations between the emergent factors mirrored those found in phase one and previous construct validation research, providing further support for the face and convergent construct validity of the CTAIS. Supplemental analysis was performed using the phase-two data to investigate difference in mean PTB, CTSE, TMA and TLOC by the demographic characteristics of the sample. The results revealed significant differences in mean PTB, CTSE, and TMA (p < 0.001, p = 0.008, and 0.032, respectively) by gender and in mean PTB and CTSE (p = 0.027 and 0.019, respectively) by hands-on construction experience (dichotomous, experiences/no experience). ANOVA yielded significant differences in mean PTB and CTSE by age (p < 0.001 and p = 0.01, respectively) and mean PTB by level of hands-on experience (p = 0.03). However, it was noted iii in the post-hoc analysis that these differences were considered statistical artifacts due to the small and unbalanced sample sizes and overlapping confidence intervals around the means. No significant differences (p > 0.05) were found between young adults (24 years and younger) and adults (25 years and older) or by respondent year in school, amount of construction management experience, participation in construction management competitions or internships. No significant differences (p > 0.05) in TLOC were found in the supplemental analysis. The CTAIS developed and validated through this study allows training organizations to quantitatively measure and evaluate construction domain level characteristics that have been shown in research to predict performance in work setting and attendance in educational settings. Identification of participant characteristics, which contribute to attrition and performance in construction training, can assist training organizations in programmatic decision-making. Pre- training assessment of trainees allows practitioners to make informed decisions, at the individual level, about appropriate interventions to increase the likelihood of training success. The CTAIS, when administered at pre- and post-training intervals, provides trainers with a measure of individual characteristics that indicate training successes. High self-efficacy and motivation are predictive of persistence in job search activities and on-the-job performance. Therefore, higher post-training CTSE and TMA are indicators of training program effectiveness. The utility of the CTAIS can be enhanced with refinements based on its application in a variety of construction training programs. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, as I survey the past several years and life changes during this dissertation journey, I am humbled by the blessings and provisions that have been granted to me and my family. For these I owe my thanks to God. The impetus to pursue my graduate degrees, and persevere during the journey, was deeply rooted in the love, devotion, and prayers of my family. My wife and best friend, Betsy, tirelessly completed the daunting, and often thankless, tasks which allowed me to more effectively pursue and complete my research. Without her devotion this dissertation would still be in its infancy. To my sons, Noah and Wyatt, I am gratefully for you. Your excitement for life, curiosity, and desire to explore are constant reminders of what really matters. Coming home each day and having you jump in my arms is more rewarding than the gaining of any degree. To my sweet little Kylie, we celebrated your first birthday just one day after my dissertation defense. This first year with you has been a joy. Your smiles and laughs are true treasures to me. To my dad, I cannot thank you enough for your willingness to discuss, read, and reread this dissertation and many other papers while I pursued this degree. The countless hours spent helping me achieve this goal are greatly appreciated. To my mom, thank you for supporting me, not only in the recent past, but for as long as I can remember. You and dad have provided an excellent example of a successful and fruitful marriage, outstanding parenting, and a steadfast faith. I count you both as significant blessings. I express my thanks to my advisor, Gene Gloeckner, my co-advisor, Carla Lopez Del Puerto, and committee member, Kelly Strong. Each of you has taught me many things and I thank you for your dedication, encouragement, and willingness to openly discuss my ideas, research, and career choices. I look forward to working with each of you on future projects. v To my methodologist, Carole Makela, I cannot express enough thanks for your consistent and unwavering support and dedication during my dissertation journey. Not only for the countless hours spent in your office, but for those during evenings and weekends providing expeditious and invaluable feedback. As I advise graduate students in the future, I will forever look to you are my role model. It is my hope that I might contribute the time, effort, and care to my advisees that you have demonstrated to me. I owe a debt of gratitude to Nathan Barry for leading the efforts of data collection at the University of Nebraska Kearney. This data was paramount to the completion of this dissertation. Finally, there are undoubtedly those who I have neglected to mention that I would like to thank. The completion of any journey is made possible through the help of many along the way. I would like to offer my thanks to those who have befriended, taught, encouraged, supported, and prayed for me as I worked to complete my graduate studies. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………… 1 Young Adult Training Program Evaluation……………………………………………………….4 Research Problem………………………………………………………………………………… 5 Purpose Statement and Research Questions……………………………………………………… 6 Significance of the Study…………………………………………………………………………. 7 Research Approach……………………………………………………………………………….. 8 Delimitations……………………………………………………………………………………… 9 Assumptions and Limitations…………………………………………………………………….. 9 Researcher’s Perspective………………………………………………………………………... 11 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE……………………………………………………. 12 Employment Training……………………………………………………………………………