As the degree program coordinator, Associate Professor of Practice Elizabeth Diamond, PhD, is one of the leaders in the College of Education's Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. The CTE program aims to support a diverse and impassioned group of professionals ready to make an impact as educators.

CTE is unique. It prepares career and technical professionals with the skills to teach a subject in their area of occupation. The College of Education currently offers an undergraduate non-degree program in Career and Technical Education and graduate non-degree programs in CTE, Business, Computer and Information Technology (BCIT) Education and Marketing Education.  The College of Education also offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Career and Technical Education with optional concentrations in BCIT Education and Marketing Education.

Diamond has had a transformative career as an educator. She taught math at community colleges, was an academic advisor and even was an academic dean. When it came time to get her PhD, she went to Auburn University for CTE.

While Diamond was at Auburn University, she realized that she wanted to pursue a career where she could combine working with students, teaching and doing education administration. The College of Education was the perfect place for Diamond to call home. Diamond joined the College of Education faculty in the 2019-2020 academic year.

As program coordinator and Associate Professor of Practice, one of Diamond's primary roles is to help students navigate through the CTE program at Temple. When students decide that they want to complete their CTE degree, that's where Diamond steps in.

The students here are very passionate about the program. That's been very exciting both at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Diamond's favorite aspect of being a CTE educator is teaching CTE students. She loves helping CTE students become the best teachers for their students. She also enjoys having an impact on so many students at the elementary, middle and high school levels.

Diamond also dedicates a lot of her time to research. A big focus of her research is on technology in classrooms. Her research specifically dives into how early adopters of technology will be who people will look to as technological influencers. Diamond's other research focuses are teacher stress and Web 2.0 technology in classrooms.

For students thinking about pursuing a career in CTE, Diamond encourages students to reach out to the Center for Professional Development in Career and Technical Education.

CTE is growing in the state of Pennsylvania and it's growing more here than the national average.* There's a positive outlook as far as numbers go. There will be plenty of jobs, so go get yourself out there, work, and then come back to teaching. We have a lot of teachers who still work in their field and teach. You don't have to quit even though you're a teacher. You can have the best of both worlds. Don't think you have to do one or the other; you can do both.

For more information on the College of Education's Career and Technical Education programs, please visit the CTE website or reach out to Professor Diamond.

*Reference: CareerOneStop Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, 2/25/2020