Lia D. Falco, Ph.D. (Educational Psychology) is an associate professor of Counseling in the Disability & Psychoeducational Studies Department. She is a certified school counselor in the state of Arizona and worked as a middle school counselor in the Amphitheater School District prior to completing her doctorate. Her expertise is in the area of career development with research that explores how adolescents view themselves as future workers and how career issues are related to aspects of motivation and identity. Her specific focus is STEM career choice, and her scholarship seeks to identify and evaluate educational practices that are effective at supporting students who are under-represented in STEM occupations. Dr. Falco has numerous peer-reviewed publications, and she regularly presents her work at national conferences such as ACA, NCDA, and AERA. In 2019, Dr. Falco was selected to become an Erasmus Circle Fellow.
Dr. Falco is a member of the American Counseling Association and National Career Development Association where she serves on the research committee. She has served on the editorial boards for the Professional School Counseling journal, the Middle Grades Research Journal, and the Journal of Counseling & Development. She also serves as the editorial assistant for the Journal for Specialists in Group Work.
Recently, Dr. Falco facilitated a partnership between the Counseling Program and Tucson Unified School District to establish the "Talk it Out" program that provides free mental health counseling services to all students and families enrolled in TUSD schools. She was nominated for the 2019 COE Outstanding Faculty Outreach/Service Award for this work.
