TOMORROW'S UNIVERSITY GRADUATE: CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY NEEDS AND CURRICULUM ENHANCEMENT

摘要

The professional skill set needs of the construction industry continues to mature. Construction industry employers increasingly tend to hire university graduates for supervisory and management appointments and most entry-level professional positions are filled by employees with degrees in construction science/management, or civil engineering. A core issue for the construction industry and academic institutions that feed it is to determine out-year skill requirements and assess the process of how university graduates align with industry needs. This paper focuses on the initial phase of a research effort to develop an understanding of how future industry and societal trends impact future university graduates, and how this is critical to the process to ensure the construction industry is prepared to meet the challenges. The authors present a review and assessment of near-future skill needs for university graduates entering the construction industry and a synthesis of previous research. The intent of this in depth review is to develop a framework for a follow-on survey instrument and methodology to evaluate whether university curricula currently succeed in training students to meet industry needs and to sustain future leadership.