Dilemmas facing construction education and research in 1990s

Construction, seen as a discipline calling for higher education and research, is a relatively new phenomenon that has come into being largely since World War II. As such, it is having growing pains and, with them, differences in practices and opinions on the paths to be followed. Until 40 years ago, the managers directing the actual on-site construction were predominantly ambitious, hard-driving craftsmen who had come up through the trades. Their knowledge was gained by “doing.” There was little university or industry interest in college-level education for construction managers, nor technical literature nor research to support it. Since that time, some 150 college-level educational programs for construction have evolved. Currently, these follow four tracks: two programs are undergraduate and one is graduate-level, based in civil engineering; the fourth track, primarily undergraduate, rests in numerous other university departments. Research is primarily found in schools following the graduate track. Each of these tracks has its own curriculum, constituency, and supporters among educators and in industry. The dilemma facing both the construction industry and the individual academic institutions is how to develop the interest and support necessary so that the universities can better serve both the construction industry and the owners for which it builds.