Industry and Academia Perceptions
of Construction Management
Education – The Case of South Africa
Dr Nicholas Chileshe
Sheffield Hallam University
BEECON 2006, London
12th September 2006
Outline of Presentation
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Introduction
Background to Research
Aims and Objectives of the Research
Executive Summary
Current Universities of Technological Instructional
Model
Research Methodology
Major Findings
Limitations
Conclusions
Background to Research
• The South African Educational Landscape
Changing
• Transformation of institutions previously known as
Technikons into Unversities of Technology
Development
• Offering of career oriented educational programs
• Practical and outcomes-based, with the intent that
their graduates are immediately employable and
productive.
Aims & Objectives of the Research
• To determine if Construction Management
Graduates from the Universities of Technology
(UoTs) were meeting the Expectations of the
Industry
• To identify the mismatch between Industry
and Academia
Executive Summary-1
• Curriculum change in the main is driven by
policy, industry or faculty (e.g. The White
Paper 1997) which stresses the challenge to
redress past inequalities and to transform the
higher education system
• HEI must be committed to responding to the
needs of industry (course content and
research)
Executive Summary - 2
• HE must provide education and training to
develop the skills and innovations necessary
for national development and successful
participation in the global economy.
• These industry-sensitive programs essentially
have to help students in their transition from
school to work place.
Current Universities of
Technology Instructional Model
The Four-Year Bachelors of Technology
Program is Generally Made up of Three Years
Spent at the Institution with the Second Year
Spent Full Time Working
Sample
Demographics by Sector
• 30 Academic Staff
• 60 Industry Representative
Industry Sample: Sector
• 48.9% Contractors
• 2.2% Sub-Contractors
• 48.9% Consultants
Industry Sample: Turnover
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< R1 million Rand (9%)
R1 – R5 Million Rand (26%)
R5 - R20 Million (15%)
> R20 Million (50%)
Industry Sample: Size
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< 10 Workers ( 11%)
11 - 50 (26%)
51 - 100 (15%)
101 - 250 (48%)
Academic Sample
• 53.6% Not Professionally Registered
• 57.1 % Were Involved with Some Aspects
of Construction Related Research
Survey Instrument
Five Part Instrument was used collect the data
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2.
Experiential Training
Continuing Professional Development and
Professional Registration
3. Opinions on Construction Management Courses at
UoTs ( Seven Subjects – 37 Skills)
4. Opinions on Training and Education
5. General Demographics
Aspects of Experiential Training
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7.
Necessity
Type (Nature) – Structured or Assessed ?
Basis
Method (Levels of Agreement)
Timing and Duration – Stages (12, 6 or 3 Months?)
Location (After year 1, 2, 3?) or During (Yr 1 or 2)
Assessment (Type and Method)
Opinions on Training and Education
1. Distinction between Training and Education
"Training increases skills and competence and teaches
employees the 'how' of a job whereas education increases
their insight and understanding and teaches them 'why'
1. Areas of Engagement – Universities v UoT
Industry felt that Universities (71.7%) should focus on
Education whereas UoT (38.6%) on Training
Data Analysis
Computation of Indices
….Index = ∑ W/ A*N
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Relative Relevancy Subject Index (RRSI)
Relative Responsiveness Index (RRI)
Subject Satisfaction Index (SSI)
Level of Satisfaction of Academic Subject & Skills (By
Academia and Industry)
Scoring the Levels of the State of
Construction Management
Average Score
4.0 to 5.0
RSSI, RRI and SSI
0.8 to 1.0
SSAI Level
High (H)
3.0 to < 4.0
0.6 to < 0.8
Medium (M)
1.0 to < 3.0
0.2 to < 0.6
Low (L)
Seven Subjects
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Communication (COM)
Site Surveying (SS)
Computer Skills (CS)
Construction Technology (CT)
Quantity Surveying (QS)
Construction Management (CM)
Applied Building Science (ABS)
Major Findings on ET
• Necessity of Experiential (ET)
96.7% regarded ET as necessary (Employers shared the
same view with 24.1% as necessary and 72.4% as TN)
• Assessment Methods
Term Report Method (ms = 4.48) as the most preferred
with Peer Assessment as the Least (ms = 2.70)
Major Findings
• Assessment Methods (Who Should?)
Industry (74.5%) felt they should be responsible
for Assessment of Experiential training.
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4.16
4.15
4.12
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Employer
Academic Institution
Academic Institution, Employer and
Student together
Independent Assessor
5
Student
1.83
2.96
Staff Views - (Similar to Industry)
• Location of ET within Academic Programs
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After Year 1
4.09
2
During Year 2
3.45
3
During Year 3
3.00
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5
During Year 1
After Year 2
2.80 (1.54)
2.80 (1.40)
Importance of Skills
Industry [Academia]
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2
Trust and Honesty
Planning Scheduling and Controlling
Construction Activities
3 Numeracy
4 Time Management
35 Ability to Conduct Research
36 Systems Development
4.56 [4.63]
4.32 [4.59]
37 Marketing Skills
3.35 [3.67]
4.07 [4.59]
4.39 [4.59]
3.14 [3.85]
3.23 [3.87]
Industry-Staff Mismatch
A Comparison of Expected (Industry) versus Actual (Staff) Skill Importance Indices
1.000
Construction Management Relative Importance Skill Index
0.900
0.800
0.700
0.600
Industry
0.500
Staff
0.400
0.300
0.200
0.100
0.000
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9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37
Skills Variables
Why This Mismatch?
The factors contributing to this are;
• Background of Students
• Cultural Factors
Xhosa speaking students from rural areas had
great difficulty in adapting
• Student's Positive Attitude
• Outdated Equipment (Tuition is poor)
• Apartheid Legacy
Importance of Skills
Tale of Two Worlds
• Industry scored (12) 30% of the skills below the
4.00 mean score
• Whereas Academia only (5)13.5%.
Why This Mismatch? - 1
• Apartheid Legacy manifested itself in empowering
a minority by the exclusion and marginalisation of
the majority.
• Historically Disadvantaged Institutions (HDI)
versus Previously Advantaged Institutions (PAI)
Why This Mismatch? - 2
• PAI optimise links with industry to secure access
of their graduates to the labour market.
• Perceptions that students from HDI are less
prepared for the world of work than their
counterparts at PAIs.
This affects their access to suitable industry
placements
Conclusions
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Experiential Learning is Necessary
Assessed ET Should be Structured
It Should Include Both Project Based and Function /
Department
There are Differences between What Academic Staff
and Industry perceive as relevant and important Skills
Traditional Roles of Universities are still entrenched in
the Minds of Industry Respondents
Despite the Mismatch between Industry and Academic,
both scored high levels (mean score > 4.0) in 75% of
the Necessary Skills and Competencies
The Good
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Conclusions
Recognises that Academia/Industry Mistmatch can be
measured in all the construction management
programmes
• The scoring system addresses the key curriculum issues
and empowers the universities in making decision
The Bad
• Still in the description phase, need to move to an
explanatory phases
The Ugly
• Are the UoT's doing the right thing? Need to Bury the
Hatchet !!!!!!!!! (i.e. Factors affecting the
Academia/industry mismatch need to be addressed
through KT).
The End
Thank You…
Any Questions ?