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Understanding the skills shortages in the Australian construction industry: An exploratory study of the site management team
Abstract
In Australia, there is a serious concern over skills shortages and turnover across a range of occupations in the Building and Construction Industry. Previous research has tended to focus on the problem of skills shortages in the industry as a whole while treating all employees and occupations as a homogenous group. Previous research approach has failed to acknowledge that there may be differences in the reasons for skills shortages across occupations within the industry. Also, the nature of and the reasons for skills shortages may differ across sectors (building and Civil) and geographical locations (states and territories). Thus, there may be different ways of addressing the problem in different states and within each sector. This paper reports some preliminary findings from an exploratory study funded by the Construction Industry Institute of Australia (CIIA). The research was aimed at investigating, within states and sectors, the nature and extent of skills shortages and turnover within the site management team, the reasons for shortages and how companies are responding to the problem. This preliminary finding is based on a questionnaire survey of 26 recruitment managers drawn from top 100 head contracting companies across Australia. The study is important because it indicates the difficulties encountered by companies when filling staff vacancies within the different site management roles and the reasons including the similarities and differences across sectors and states. The findings provide vital information that can help policymakers and companies when developing strategies to reduce skills shortages. The findings can facilitate international comparison. It also indicates future research directions on skills shortages within the site management team and states.
Purpose
– There is concern that traditional teaching methods (including lectures and tutorials) do not prepare graduates with the generic employability skills required by the construction industry. This has motivated architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) academics to consider the use of student-centred approaches like collaborative learning. However, the effectiveness of collaborative learning approaches has not been widely examined in AEC education. The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical results on the benefits and barriers of collaborative learning from AEC students’ perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
– From a questionnaire survey conducted with Associate Degree students who studied in four AEC programmes at a university in Hong Kong, 621 valid responses were received. Descriptive statistics were used to test these data for any significant agreement or disagreement between respondents.
Findings
– All AEC students agreed that collaborative learning benefited them in building their academic knowledge and generic skills. However, the degree of agreement about their generic skills development differed between programmes. The findings of this study highlight the effectiveness of collaborative learning as a means of developing students’ employability skills.
Research limitations/implications
– First, the analysis of the benefits of collaborative learning is based on students’ perceptions rather than objective measures of learning gains. Although research suggests that self-reported measures of learning are valid indicators of educational and skill gains, the possibility of individual's bias or peer influence in the responses cannot be discounted. Second, the study does not take into account the teachers’ instructional skills that may affect the effectiveness of collaborative learning. To minimize the impact of different tutors on students’ learning experiences, standardized delivery mode and course materials were adopted in the surveyed courses.
Practical implications
– From the findings presented, collaborative learning is a viable tool which assists in improving both the technical and generic employability skills of students. To allow students to appreciate collaboration in a practical context, multi-disciplinary collaborative assignments can be integrated in AEC curricula. Through collaboration with other disciplines, students can understand the ways of working with other professionals. At the same time, AEC educators can apply collaborative learning to strengthen specific collaborative skills. To maximize the benefits of collaborative learning, teachers should arrange regular meetings and counseling sessions with students to ensure participation from each individual.
Social implications
– The findings contribute practical insights about collaborative learning and, in particular, the learning attitudes and perceptions of Chinese students and engineering students. Whilst the findings are different to some studies which describe Chinese students as being influenced by the Confucian Heritage culture, and preferring competitive rather than collaborative learning, more detailed studies about collaborative learning dynamics among students from different ethnic backgrounds should improve the design of collaborative learning environments for the students.
Originality/value
– The findings provide confidence to AEC academics to incorporate collaborative learning activities in their courses. Mapping students’ generic skills development between programme of study provides indicators that highlight the use of collaborative learning for different generic skills development in different AEC programmes. The results of this study provide useful information for AEC teachers, assisting them to design multi-disciplinary collaborative learning curricula.
Econometric forecasts indicate that the UK construction industry faces a severe skills deficit in the foreseeable future. This paper details the results of a major labour market research projects, which canvassed the opinions of over 50 industry stakeholders within the East Midlands region of the UK. Focus groups were used to elicit the collective opinions of key clients, consultants, contractors, industry bodies and employers of all sizes. The key themes and requirements discussed by the participants are used to develop a conjoined strategy for bridging the industry's skills gap at a regional level. It is argued that this package of mutually supportive measures could provide a transferable strategy for addressing skills deficiencies in other regions, particularly given the espoused government aspiration to devolve labour market planning activities to provincial forums and regional development agencies.