Construction Education Needs Derived from Industry Evaluations of Students and Academic Research Publications

In recent years, the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE) has shifted to outcomes-based accreditation standards for higher education construction programs, allowing greater customization of educational strategies. Past research efforts have analyzed the demands of industry and strategies used in academia, but these studies occurred before the shift to outcomes-based accreditation. This paper presents an updated analysis of construction industry needs and academic priorities and aims to provide insight into the status of industry and academia in the context of this outcomes-based focus. Thematic analysis of five years of direct evaluations of student performance during industry internships provides insight into industry demands. Parallel analysis of construction education research publications from a corresponding time period is leveraged to understand developments within the academic research community. Results suggest that both sectors recognize the need for experiential learning and software competencies among construction graduates. However, differences in trends were observed with a greater industry focus on personal attributes and a greater academic emphasis on sustainability learning competencies. The contribution of this paper is in providing an up-to-date evaluation of industry and academic trends in order to guide subsequent developments in construction education while addressing the needs of industry.