Saseendran, A (2021) Community engagement and outreach in the construction industry. PhD thesis, Texas A&M University, USA.
Abstract
There is a need in the construction industry to attract and recruit more talent to the field to meet the projected rate of employment. The industry suffers from a negative reputation among the public and a lack of diverse representation in its workforce (it is primarily constituted by White males). The STEM field uses outreach effectively to address similar issues. However, outreach has not been studied much in the context of construction. There is a need to understand what is being done in terms of construction outreach, what its needs and impact are, and how participation benefits the students at such an event. This dissertation used a mixed-method research approach to explore these questions. First, an exploratory case study was conducted to develop an evaluative framework of construction. The framework identified the antecedents and consequences of conducting outreach. Next, a phenomenological, qualitative approach was used to collect data from the participants at a construction summer camp to explore the impact of participation on their self-efficacy and motivation. This was analyzed using the constant comparative method to systematically present the contents of the camp, in addition to developing a framework that presents the impact of construction camp participation on the self-efficacy and motivation of the students. The final study attempted to take a step back and look at the broader picture of construction outreach; specifically, in terms of the current state of community engagement and construction outreach in the Texas construction industry. I collected data from construction companies and compared their outreach characteristics by industry sector and company size. Some key findings of the study were that the companies that did not conduct outreach tended to be smaller and that key demographics that needed to be tapped through outreach were not being targeted. Another interesting finding was that large companies fared only as well or worse than midsize companies in terms of the annual budget allocated for outreach, and the number of annual participants.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Caffey, S M and Escamilla, E F |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | case study; employment; motivation; participation; workforce |
| Index terms: | qualitative approach, employment, community engagement, case study, dissertation, demographics, self-efficacy, construction industry, summer, motivation, construction company, industry sector |
| Subjects: | industry analysis, management, data collection methods, community and social dimensions, demography, research methods, psychology, organization, research dissemination and communication, climate science, human factors and perception |
| Topics: | Human Resources, Urban Studies, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Stakeholder Management, Sustainability |
| 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