Rawlins, J and Marasini, R (2011) Are the construction graduates on ciob accredited degree courses meeting the skills required by the industry? In: Egbu, C and Lou, E C W (eds.) Proceedings of 27th Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2011, Bristol, UK.
Abstract
The CIOB skills in the construction industry (2009) report suggested that 34% of employers felt that new graduate skills sets are not relevant to the industry. This has been supported by the Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE) report on Graduate Employability, which highlights that 30% of employers are disappointed with graduate s employability skills. This study explores the perception of employers regarding the skills of graduates from CIOB accredited degrees, mainly on Construction Management programmes and whether there are any skills gaps that are not covered in the CIOB framework. The findings from a survey of construction professionals in the South of the UK is analysed and discussed in this paper. The study highlights that the problem of a skills shortfall is not because of a lack of emphasis, or incorrectly defined, learning outcomes within the CIOB educational framework, more of a deficit of employability competencies such as personal skills, and lack of work experience by Construction Management graduates.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | ciob educational framework; employability; graduate skills |
| Index terms: | survey, higher education, programme, graduate employability, employability, learning outcome, construction industry, graduate skill, construction professional |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, professional development, human resources and leadership, industry analysis, education, student development, project controls, educational institutions |
| Topics: | Time Control, Education, Roles and Professions, Information Management, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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