At forty-five, Ellen Ford was unemployed and looking for a career change when an architectural drawing course started her down a path she'd never considered.

Based on her success in the course and interest in the subject area, a college advisor recommended she enter the school's construction management program. The idea was intimidating. To succeed, Ellen would have to overcome deep-seated test anxiety while studying a discipline where women were, at best, a minority.

But Ellen would thrive in the world of construction management-even though in the months after graduating,...