Parkin, A B and Walle, G V d (2010) Goal displacement among construction students in higher education. In: Egbu, C (ed.) Proceedings of 26th Annual ARCOM Conference, 6-8 September 2010, Leeds, UK.
Abstract
The value of the human resources, upon which the construction industry depends, lies partly in the knowledge and skills those human resources have. Such assets can be developed through education and learning. However, theory suggests that in general students in higher education do not necessarily focus their effort on learning as much as possible. Instead their focus is on strategies that will allow them to gain maximum marks in order to get a 'good' degree, but potentially at the expense of their educational development. Literature also discusses the idea that where organizational activities are bureaucratically controlled, goal displacement can occur. This is where the rules designed to reach a goal become more important than the goal itself, potentially at the expense of achieving the original goal. This study was a preliminary investigation into the possibility of goal displacement among higher education construction students. Thirty nine students, consisting of undergraduates and postgraduates, were asked to describe what they hoped to gain from their time studying at university. It was found that the three categories of responses referred to most often, and in order of priority, related to getting a degree, having improved job prospects and gaining subject specific knowledge. Although this pattern emerged in both the undergraduate and postgraduate students, it was found that the hierarchy of categories was much more clearly defined amongst the undergraduates. In the case of the postgraduates, their responses were more varied, and also included a proliferation of references to gaining general life experience. It is suggested that undergraduate and postgraduate construction students take different attitudes to their higher education experience, perhaps because postgraduate students are less susceptible to the bureaucratic aspects of the higher education system, and this in turn impacts their learning and eventual value when they join the construction industry.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | bureaucracy; goal displacement; higher education; learning |
| Index terms: | construction industry, postgraduate, undergraduate, human resource, investigation, strategy, higher education |
| Subjects: | curriculum development, data collection methods, industry analysis, higher education, educational institutions, management |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Research Practice, Education, Human Resources |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here