George, T H (1994) A model of vocational, technical and apprenticeship craft training required to meet the needs of the construction industry in Florida. PhD thesis, University of Florida, USA.
Abstract
Construction industry observers have suggested contractors are currently training approximately two-thirds of the industry's annual need for skilled craft workers. The purpose of this study was to test this premise by using Florida as a paradigm, quantifying the actual number of individuals in formal construction craft training programs, and developing a simulation procedure that accurately delineates Florida's annual need for skilled construction craft workers. The research stratagem at the Florida Departments of Labor and Education identified every registered craft training provider in Florida along with the current enrollment in each program. These craft training providers were subdivided into three groupings: joint apprenticeship programs, nonjoint apprenticeship programs, and vocational and technical education job preparation programs. The entire population of formal construction craft training providers was surveyed with a 38% overall response rate. The statistical analyses, which use a nonparametric one-way analysis of variance technique, were designed to detect response differences among the three groups of training providers. A systems dynamics model of the construction craft training process was developed that utilized information derived from the construction craft training provider survey and the Florida Department of Labor's annual industry and occupational employment projections. The model simulation verified that only 16% of the industry's projected annual demand for journeyman-level craft workers (5,750 individuals) was being filled by apprenticeship program completers and 19% of the yearly demand was being filled by semi-skilled vocational and technical education job preparation program graduates. The results of the model simulation verified that the annual number of apprenticeship completers was scarcely sufficient to fill either the number of departures or the expected growth of the foreman-level craft worker labor pool and that the annual number of semi-skilled job preparation graduates was explicitly incapable of filling either the projected number of departures or the expected growth of the journeyman-level craft worker labor pool. This investigation confirmed that Florida's construction industry is providing the craft work force with insufficient formal training opportunities. Additional analyses of the research data resulted in conclusions and recommendations that will help the construction industry improve the craft training process.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Oppenheim, P |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | apprenticeship; education; employment; population; simulation; systems dynamics; training |
| Index terms: | systems dynamics, program, population, apprenticeship, survey, construction industry, paradigm, investigation, employment, statistical analysis, variance, enrolment |
| Subjects: | data science, data collection methods, industry analysis, measurement and scaling, recruitment and enrolment, software systems, education and knowledge transfer, management, decision-making and optimization, professional education, demography |
| Topics: | Education, Human Resources, Urban Studies, Digital Applications, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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