Attracting students to construction education programs: An exploration of perceptions by gender

Demand for construction managers is considerable and is projected to grow through the next decade. To meet the demand for construction managers, construction management programs will have to produce enough graduates. However, to produce graduates, programs must first attract students to their programs. This study collected data from students enrolled in a construction management (CM) degree program at multiple universities to learn about their perceptions of factors that attracted them to a construction management degree program. A comparative analysis was performed to identify differences in influential factors by gender. The results indicate that very few differences exist, in regard to the factors that attract students to construction degree programs, between male and female students. It was also found that while all factors identified were positively influential, there are substantial differences between the factors regarding how many students they reach and their level of positive influence. Career opportunities was found to be the most influential factor in attracting students of both genders to CM programs, followed by, internships, non-internship work experience, and fieldtrips to job sites. Factors were also identified for CM programs trying to increase their female enrolment to focus on.