Carter, A (2022) Perceptions of construction trade careers amid a growing labor shortage: An exploratory study. PhD thesis, Wilmington University (Delaware), USA.
Abstract
By 2028, the skilled trades will pose more than three million job openings (Sweeney, 2019). An already increasing skilled trades gap is being exacerbated by the mass exodus of baby boomer retirees, the Great Resignation, and the COVID-19 pandemic. This exploratory study examined perceptions of construction trade careers and the factors that influence these perceptions as a first step toward narrowing the gap. A literature review was conducted, and Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior was used as a research framework. 206 participants completed the web-based survey distributed using the snowball method. Findings revealed disparities in comprehension of what jobs encompass the construction trades industry, what career attributes they pose, and factors of most and least influence on career selection after high school. These gaps in comprehension exacerbate existing stigmas associated with construction and contribute to the growing gap between the building trade personnel available and the vacancies in the market. Study insights can be leveraged by stakeholders to educate the market as to what careers and benefits comprise the construction trades as a strategy to recruit and retain a pipeline of employees. Initial recommendations include reintegrating vocational technical education and training into state K-12 curriculum and pairing resources with advocates to gain traction in repositioning the construction trades as viable careers to students and their families—the most influential career selection factor. Future areas of research are also discussed.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Danley, A |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | education; market; personnel; vocation; pipeline; careers; training; employee; stakeholders |
| Index terms: | traction, career, building trade, vacancy, personnel, COVID-19, survey, exploratory study, strategy, literature review, vocation, labour shortage, planned behaviour, education and training, disparity, pandemic, pipeline |
| Subjects: | data analysis and analytics, real estate economics, data collection methods, infrastructure and transport systems, professional development, health risk and incident analysis, management, economics, specialized education, practitioner, behavioral psychology, transportation engineering, professional education, social justice, research methods |
| Topics: | Urban Studies, Human Resources, Business Strategy, Information Management, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Supply Chain Management, Ethics, Education, Health and Safety, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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