Zheng, Y; Debs, L; Besiktepe, D and Oh, H J (2025) Insights for key professional competencies of us entry-level construction positions: A structural topic modeling approach. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 151(8): 04025103, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
The construction industry in the United States currently faces challenges, from the high labor shortage to the prospect of an increasing trend, along with changing job demands driven by evolving technologies. To help mitigate such issues for new graduates in construction-related disciplines, this study aims to provide insights that would assist educational institutions to better align their programs to emerging industry needs by identifying key competencies for entry-level construction positions. Through the combination of the structural topic modeling (STM) text-mining method and 1,046 real-world job posting data, the research team identified 16 key competencies for young construction professionals (or early career construction professionals), with a majority related to project management. Among those, two competencies associated with virtual design and construction (VDC) were identified, namely VDC capability and field VDC coordination, potentially indicating the industry's growing need toward VDC implementation. Furthermore, this study revealed connections between different job types and required competencies through regression analysis. Results indicated that general project phase management competency was identified in all entry-level construction positions. Moreover, the presence of VDC-related competencies in numerous non-VDC positions further highlighted the increasing focus and wider adoption of VDC functions across the construction industry. This study contributes to the latest understanding of entry-level construction job competencies in the United States and provides a new analytical approach using STM within the studied field. The research findings also offer practical implications for educational institutions to adjust their curriculum designs pertaining to industry demands, job applicants to focus on relevant competencies, and companies to better match applicants' abilities based on different entry-level positions. This study ultimately facilitates better alignment of skills and job requirements in the face of evolving technologies and labor shortage challenges in the construction industry.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Index terms: | coordination, face, construction industry, project management, virtual design and construction, presence, required competency, modelling, program, United States, labour shortage, job demand, mining, implementation, regression analysis, career, construction professional |
| Subjects: | digital design, psychology, project management theory and practice, geotechnical engineering, management, contractual arrangements, professional development, software systems, Geography, economics, environmental science, statistical analysis, analytical methods, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Geographical Context, Information Management, Human Resources, Digital Applications, Organizational Design, Supply Chain Management, Research Practice, Project Management, Sustainability, Procurement, Engineering Principles |
| 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