Preparing Project Management Professionals for Construction Careers: Australian Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Educators’ Role

ABSTRACT

Work-ready professionals serve as valuable organizational and industry resources. In the face of skills shortages in construction, it is imperative that graduates emerge well equipped for their careers in the industry. This study explores the role of educators in fostering work readiness in graduating project management (PM) professionals embarking on careers in construction. Seventy-five semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with five key stakeholder groups including PM students, early-career PM professionals, construction employers, PM professional body representatives, and PM university educators. In interviewing five key stakeholder groups, this study adopts a holistic approach to investigate the role of educators in preparing a work-ready next generation of construction PM professionals. Thematic analysis revealed that the stakeholders considered that educators’ responsibilities entailed: i) teaching content relevant to industry; ii) providing career education; iii) facilitating work experience; iv) refreshing curriculum; v) engaging in open dialogue with alumni; vi) possessing industry experience; and vii) engaging with industry. The findings contribute insights into the role of educators in preparing graduates for the industry. Educators delivering PM courses for graduates planning to work in construction may use the results of this research as a guide to assist them in fostering work readiness of future construction professionals.

KEYWORDS:

• Construction education
• early career professionals; higher education
• graduate development
• project management students
• work readiness

Introduction

Companies around the world are increasingly adopting projects as part of their everyday business (Sharma et al., 2019; Walker & Lloyd-Walker, 2019), which has caused project management (PM) talent to be critical for many industries, including construction (Low et al., 2021). PM professionals are considered key resources in the successful delivery of projects (Hwang et al., 2020). As the need for PM practitioners continues to increase, project-based organizations (PBOs) across industries are facing unprecedented PM skills shortages (PMI, 2021). In light of the skills shortages, it is particularly important that graduating PM professionals are emerging from their degree programs work ready (i.e., possessing the requisite values, behaviors, and skills to positively contribute to their organizations) and able to effectively “hit the ground running” to address companies’ PM talent needs.

Work readiness in graduates is seen to be attained as a result of learning opportunities (Aprile & Knight, 2020) that in turn, equip graduates to develop skills and knowledge that enable them to meaningfully contribute to their profession (Edward et al., 2017; Jackson, 2019). Preparing graduates to be work ready encompasses the skills that will enable them to successfully navigate their careers long term and beyond merely the needs of the industry and company they work for in the short-medium term.

Work-ready PM professionals are particularly important for the strongly project-based construction industry (Low et al., 2021; Vaz-Serra & Mitcheltree, 2021). Scholars in construction have found that well-trained university graduates provide a valuable skilled resource for bringing about much-needed innovation in the industry (Jacobsson & Linderoth, 2021). However, most new graduates spend their first year struggling to bridge the knowledge-practice gap, preventing companies from taking full advantage of their new hires’ latest knowledge. In addition to facing the normal stressors (e.g., anxiety, stress, pressure) that accompany the university-to-workplace transition (Davis, 2010; McNamara et al., 2011), early-career PM professionals in construction must adapt to construction’s particularly dynamic (Aliu et al., 2023; Benhart & Shaurette, 2014) and challenging work environments (Bowen et al., 2021).

Scholars have identified that the expectations of graduates embarking on careers in construction have transformed over the past 20 years and that “as a result, Higher Education Institutions are tasked with producing graduates to meet these ever-changing demands” (O’Neill et al., 2023, p. 1). Therefore, it is critical to ensure that young construction professionals are well equipped to navigate the challenges of this fast-paced industry (Ahmed et al., 2014, Aliu et al., 2023; Ershadi et al., 2021; O’Neill et al., 2023). In this study, we focus on the educational needs and preparation of PM professionals seeking careers in the Australian construction industry.

Research on the career paths of PM professionals remains scarce in both the project management and construction literature (Akkermans et al., 2020; Havermans et al., 2019; Keegan et al., 2018). However, scholars have begun to recognize that PM degree graduates form an important segment of the project workforce (Borg & Scott-Young, 2020a; Lloyd-Walker et al., 2016). Within the context of construction, there has been a promising start in highlighting the importance of work readiness for PM professionals in construction (e.g., Burga et al., 2020; Vaz-Serra and Mitcheltree, 2021), however, this important area warrants further research (Borg & Scott-Young, 2022). The current study answers these and other calls (e.g., Aliu et al., Oo et al., 2020) for further research on how work readiness can be developed in PM undergraduates preparing for construction careers. Specifically, this study investigates the following research question: What is the role of educators in equipping PM professionals with the work-ready attributes they need to work in the Australian construction industry?

Scholars have long lamented the complexity of work readiness; a substantial part of the challenge of defining work readiness (Artess et al., 2017; Boden & Nedeva, 2010; Cranmer, 2006; Suleman, 2018) lies in the difficulty of aligning differing stakeholders’ views on what attributes are indeed critical, noting that different stakeholders have varied views. Despite this difficulty, in line with other scholars, we recognize that work readiness involves multiple stakeholders (Cavanagh et al., 2015) and we therefore designed this study to be multi-vocal, allowing the consideration of various stakeholders’ perspectives. This qualitative study advances the literature on graduate work readiness by exploring the perceptions of multiple stakeholder groups (PM students, early-career PM practitioners, employers in construction companies, PM university educators, and PM professional bodies) about the role of educators in preparing work-ready PM practitioners. Based on the study’s findings, research recommendations as well as recommendations for practice are provided at the end of the article to guide university educators in preparing PM professionals for a seamless transition into managing projects in the construction industry. The study therefore builds upon recent scholars’ efforts (i.e., Aliu et al., 2023; O’Neill et al., 2023) to help guide educators in better preparing graduates for work in the construction industry.

Literature review

The following sections will discuss the extant literature with respect to: i) work readiness and human capital theory, ii) stakeholders’ roles in fostering work readiness, and iii) stakeholder theory in the context of work readiness. In this way, the literature review explores the theoretical underpinnings of work readiness through both a Human Capital Theory lens as well as a Stakeholder Theory lens. It is against this theoretical backdrop, that we position our work readiness study within a multi-vocal methodological framework.

Work readiness viewed through a human capital lens

To explore the theoretical underpinnings of work readiness, we turn to Human Capital Theory, which explains the impact of education on employment (Becker, 1975). This theory posits that students invest in education to obtain valuable skills, which in turn leads to increased employability and productivity, and greater earning power (Suleman, 2018). Students seek to optimize returns on their educational investments by acquiring skills that will be rewarded in the job market. In terms of Human Capital Theory, the greater the skills acquired through university studies, the more employable and productive graduates will be (Becker, 1975). Graduate skills have an impact at the macro-economic level as well: “the knowledge, skills and capabilities embedded in graduates … are recognised to be key contributors to the competitiveness and success of nations” (Docherty & Fernandez, 2014, p. 3). Specifically, in the PM context, it is shown that through the successful implementation of projects, organizations can better gain competitive advantage (Alvarenga et al., 2019); hence, it becomes critical that organizations have access to a pool of work-ready PM talent who can contribute to project success.

In terms of human capital theory, universities have a significant part to play in fostering human resources by developing graduates who can make positive contributions to both the workforce and the broader economy. This theory places emphasis on graduates’ investment in their education with the assumption that the universities will equip them with the requisite skills and attributes to achieve financial success in the workplace (Hyslop-Marginson & Sears, 2006). Consequently, universities are viewed as bearing key responsibility to serve employers and society by producing graduates with the skill sets necessary to excel in their professions and to contribute meaningfully to societal progress (Iyer & Dave, 2015).

While a skilled and employable workforce is vital for economic development, one criticism of examining education through the lens of the Human Capital Theory is that it may overly prioritize equipping students with skills and attributes desired by organizational employers, potentially neglecting other educational objectives like producing valuable citizens who are life-long learners. While this study does not assert that work readiness is the sole purpose of university education, it acknowledges the substantial role that tertiary institutions play in preparing graduates for the workforce (Holmes, 2013). Organizations rely on educational institutions to produce graduates who are adequately prepared for employment (Chigbu & Nekhwevha, 2022). Therefore, Human Capital Theory serves as an appropriate framework for this research to explore the role of educators in preparing work-ready project management professionals for careers in the construction industry.

Work readiness and stakeholders’ roles in fostering work ready individuals

Graduate work readiness is crucial for determining whether graduates can effectively contribute to their workplace in the early stages of their careers (Prikshat et al., 2018) and its importance is recognized worldwide (Jackson, 2019; Winterton & Turner, 2019). However, in many countries across the globe, employers have voiced growing dissatisfaction with the perceived lack of preparedness of recent graduates (Cavanagh et al., 2015). Consequently, scholarly articles (e.g., Prikshat et al., 2018) and industry reports from peak organizations (e.g., Business Council of Australia, 2016) have identified what they consider to be the key attributes of graduate work readiness. However, little is known about the specific graduate work-readiness attributes needed by the construction industry (Ruge & McCormack, 2017; Vaz-Serra & Mitcheltree, 2021). Scholars of construction have emphasized the critical role of universities in fostering graduate attributes and skills to support a successful and fulfilling career. However, students have voiced concerns that their universities are not investing sufficient time and effort into developing their work readiness (Savage et al., 2010). Indeed, within the context of construction, scholars have found that “an ever-increasing gap has begun to develop between industry and academia, as Higher Education Institutes struggle to keep pace with industry requirements” (O’Neill et al., 2023, p. 2).

To add to this discourse, there has been much debate in the education literature about who is responsible for developing work-ready employable graduates (Cranmer, 2006; Kinash et al., 2016), and whether work readiness is the sole responsibility of higher education institutions (Donald et al., 2019). In the construction literature, scholars have asserted that “university plays a crucial role in ensuring graduates develop lifelong learning skills and attributes that can carry them onto a long and fruitful career, however, professionals and students did not feel universities were doing enough to ensure this development occurred” (Savage et al., 2010, p. 103). Many academics (e.g., Donald et al., 2019; Huq & Gilbert, 2013) argue that society expects universities to be more than knowledge imparters. Students and their employers now expect that university degree programs will develop those capabilities required for successful employment (Peach & Gamble, 2011). There has been an increasing belief in the last decade that “the primary purpose of higher education is to service industry” (Huq & Gilbert, 2013, p. 551).

Developing work-readiness skills for employability is one of the major reasons that students engage in university education (Donald et al., 2019; Su, 2014). However, educators recognize that developing work readiness is a complex issue that transcends disciplines (Jackson, 2019; Orr et al., 2023), and therefore, much more research is needed. Fostering work readiness “continues to present difficult policy and pedagogic challenges for higher education institutions” (Evans & Henrichsen, 2008, p. 53), and there is no quick solution to this multi-dimensional challenge. More recently, scholars in other disciplines have reasoned that gaining a complete understanding of what constitutes work readiness in a particular context requires canvasing the opinions of all interested stakeholders. This recommendation has been made in the education literature (Kinash et al., 2016), the management literature (Cavanagh et al., 2015; Prikshat et al., 2018), the project management literature (Borg & Scott-Young, 2022; Floris et al., 2020) and the construction literature (J. Moore & Plugge, 2008, Naveed et al., 2017). While taking a holistic stakeholder perspective is not new (see Ahn et al., 2012; Farooqui & Ahmed, 2009; Mason et al., 2009), it has yet to be realized within the context of preparing work-ready PM professionals for careers in construction.

Stakeholder theory and the role of educators in developing work readiness

Stakeholder Theory has been used in across disciplines including education (Austen et al., 2009). While Stakeholder Theory is focused on creating value for those with a vested interest or stake in the outcomes, Hickman and Akdere (2017) advocate for its application in higher education to ensure that universities are providing value to all stakeholders, including students, graduates, universities, and employers. Through greater recognition and inclusion of key stakeholders’ voices, universities can provide value for these stakeholders (Hickman & Akdere, 2017). Stakeholder Theory considers that all stakeholders should be consulted and included in the process of developing work readiness since all stakeholders’ interests and needs have intrinsic value (Donaldson & Preston, 1995). Therefore, from the perspective of Stakeholder Theory, graduate work readiness can really only be achieved through effective collaboration and cooperation between all interested stakeholders (Prikshat et al., 2018), rather than the sole responsibility being placed on a single stakeholder group (i.e., university educators).

The methodology adopted in this research is underpinned by Stakeholder Theory, and in line with this, we recognize that developing work readiness is a function of the responsibilities of multiple stakeholders (Ahn et al., 2012; Cavanagh et al., 2015Naveed et al., 2017). By using the perspectives of key stakeholders to explore the role of educators in developing work-ready PM professionals, this research also adopts the Shared Value perspective (Buchholz & Rosenthal, 2005). This approach recognizes that benefits arise when all stakeholders have a voice. We argue that value emerges from empowering all relevant stakeholders to have input into achieving the common goal of producing work-ready PM graduates in the construction industry. Scholars have asserted that “university plays a crucial role in ensuring graduates develop lifelong learning skills and attributes that can carry them onto a long and fruitful career” (Savage et al., 2010, p. 103). As one of the prime stakeholders in graduate work readiness, PM educators play a critical part in developing students into work-ready professionals by fostering students’ work-readiness capabilities and knowledge. Moreover, PM employers, PM professional bodies, PM students, and early-career PMs are also key stakeholders in achieving graduate work readiness – each standing to benefit from educators’ development of work readiness in PM professionals planning careers in the construction industry.

Methodology

The Australian context

Employability researchers (e.g., Tomlinson, 2017) have identified the need to consider a particular labor market and educational context. Since geographical location has rarely been studied in the PM career literature (Akkermans et al., 2020), this study has selected Australia as its context. Country-wide, Australian universities offer 8 undergraduate degrees in project management that are accredited by the Project Management Institute’s global accreditation centre (PMI, 2024). Given the Australian government’s increasing insistence that universities must develop graduates who are work-ready and employable (Jackson, 2019), the role of educators in developing work-ready PM professionals for the Australian construction workforce warrants further research (Borg & Scott-Young, 2022; Vaz-Serra & Mitcheltree, 2021).

Sample

In this study, which was conducted as part of a larger PhD research investigation, 75 interviews were conducted on stakeholder perceptions of tertiary educators’ role in preparing future PMs for work in construction. Participants from five stakeholder groups were recruited by advertising through university networks, professional PM bodies, and the researchers’ own professional connections. Each stakeholder group is described below.

1. PM university educators Participant Group 1 consisted of 9 PhD-qualified academics who were engaged in the teaching and delivery of a PM undergraduate degree in Australia. The degree is accredited by the Project Management Institute and was selected at the time the research was undertaken, it was one of two undergraduate degrees in PM in Australia that was accredited by the PMI. We opted to interview educators due to their role in delivering higher education to PM students.

2. PM students Participant Group 2 was comprised of 18 undergraduate PM students who were completing their bachelor’s degrees at the time of the research. The students intended to work in the construction industry following graduation. This particular stakeholder group was important to study given that the student voice remains under-represented in work readiness research.

3. Early-career PM professionals Participant Group 3 comprised of 20 early career PM professionals, all of whom had graduated within one to five years of PM study and had made the transition from university into PM-related roles in construction. As per the student voice, the voice of early career professionals remains under-represented in work readiness research.

4. Construction employers Participant Group 4 consisted of 18 PM professionals in middle management. These were direct-line managers of early-career PM professionals in construction project-based organizations. The inclusion of interviews with this participant group provided an opportunity for employers to reflect on the work readiness, skill strengths, and gaps of their early-career PM recruits.

5. PM professional body representatives Participant Group 5 consisted of 10 board members of the major PM professional bodies in Australia; the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM). As the peak bodies of PM, PMI and AIPM are directly involved with the advancement of PM skills, from having a role/impact in the accreditation of PM degrees, to offering PM courses and certifications for upskilling the workforce. It was important to include this stakeholder group in our study given the leadership role and influence which the peak bodies have in the PM discipline.

Data collection

Human research ethics approval for this study was obtained from the researchers’ university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to capture all the different stakeholders’ perceptions on the role of educators in developing work readiness in early-career PM professionals intending to work in construction. Interviews ranged from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours and included probing questions. All interviews were audio-recorded and were later transcribed. Participants were asked preplanned questions from an interview guide tailored to each stakeholder group. To illustrate the types of questions asked, some are included here for reference.

• What would do you think educators could do to better prepare PM graduates for work in the construction industry? Question asked to employers.

• What did your university educators do to prepare you for your early career as a PM in construction? Question asked to early-career PM professionals.

• How well do you believe your lecturers are equipping you to work in the construction industry? Question asked to PM students.

• What do you consider to be the role of university educators in fostering work readiness in the next generation of PM graduates working in construction? Question asked to PM professional body representatives.

When answering the questions, participants were asked to reflect on their own unique experiences. Probes in the form of additional pointed questions to help participants further elaborate on their views in response to the asked question were used to help explore their responses.

Interview analysis

Thematic analysis has been adopted due to its strength in being able to elicit a rich description of the entire set of interview responses (Braun & Clarke, 2013). This method enabled the researchers to gain an overall understanding of the role of educators in preparing work-ready professionals for construction, from the perceptions of multiple stakeholders. Using the NVivo 2.0 software package to assist with data organization, two of the researchers independently coded the data, using the steps outlined by Braun and Clarke (2013). To minimize bias, the researchers identified themes separately and then compared, discussed, and finalized them (Hayfield & Huxley, 2015). Table 1 describes the process adopted for the thematic analysis. It details the process undertaken by both researchers to analyze the data, which ultimately led to the identification of codes and formulation of themes for the data set.

Table 1. Thematic analysis process

Phases	Description of process
Data familiarisation	The 75 interviews were transcribed. Two researchers individually read them, noting down their initial observations.
Generating initial codes	Independently, the researchers then systematically coded the complete set of interview responses. This was done by reading through each interview transcript and coding extracts into emerging codes. For example, data extracts in relation to educators needing to provide career education, career guidance or information on careers was coded to codes named “career education,” “career guidance,” and “career pathway information.”
Searching for themes	Codes were then reviewed and discussed between the researchers. Possible themes were identified, and the data were coded against these. For example, the codes “career education,” “career guidance,” and ‘career pathway information; were categorized under one overarching theme of “career-related resources.”
Reviewing themes	Then each potential theme, comprised of all relevant codes, was reviewed through discussion between the researchers. For example, the theme “career-related resources” was reviewed, whereby all codes and corresponding data extracts were discussed between the researchers to ensure the boundaries of the theme and what it encompassed.
Defining themes	Continuing analysis refined each theme and an analytic narrative was developed. The researchers then reviewed each theme’s name and created definitions for each. For example, the theme “career-related resources” was renamed “providing career education and coaching.”
Results write-up	The research question and extant literature guided the writing of the results and discussion sections of the paper. The researchers chose representative quotations from the interview transcripts to illustrate each theme.

Results

First, the demographic characteristics of the entire sample were analyzed. Details of the profiles of each participant group are presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Demographic profile of participants

Participant group	No. of participants	Gender (%)	Age range	Avg. years of experience
PM students	18	40% F 60% M	19–30 years	1
Early career PMs	20	40% F 60% M	20–32 years	3.5
Employers	18	23% F 77% M	30–55 years	18.39
PM associations	10	20% F 80% M	31–51 years	16
University educators	9	44% F 66% M	20–78 years	14.7

Of the 18 student interviewees, half (9) worked part-time in the construction industry while studying. Their roles were contract administrator, client representative, or assistant project manager. The early-career recent graduate groups were employed in a variety of built environment sectors including property development, commercial high-rise buildings, and residential construction. Employer group representatives had worked in PM roles in construction for between 10 and 35 years. Their positions varied from Company Director, Director of Operations, Project Portfolio Director, Associate Director (of company, of project operations, of project portfolio), Manager (company-level or department-level manager), Senior Project Manager, or Project Manager. PM professional body representatives had been ongoing members of their organizations for between 8 and 25 years and had between 9 and 25 years of project management work experience. Participants from the educator group held a variety of academic roles and levels ranging from Dean, Associate Dean, to program manager, professor, associate professor, senior lecturer, and lecturer. Four educators had been involved in the management of their university’s degree program. Approximately 50% of the educators had previous experience working in the construction industry, ranging from 2 to 10 years.

Thematic analysis

Seven themes emerged from the five different stakeholders’ interviews relating to their expectations of educators’ roles and responsibilities in preparing PM students for work in construction. These were as follows: i) teaching content relevant to industry practice; ii.) providing career education and coaching; iii) facilitating work experience; iv) refreshing curriculum; v) engaging in open dialogue with alumni; vi) possessing industry experience; and vii) engaging with industry. Table 3 provides a comparison of the different stakeholders’ perceptions. The results are presented in order of themes that had the highest frequency of being raised by stakeholder groups. In the description of findings that follow the table, each theme is described in detail, illustrated by selected quotations from interview participants with details of group membership (Educator, PM student, Early-career PM, Employer, or Professional body representative), and participant number (#).

Table 3. Stakeholder perceptions of educators’ role in developing work readiness

		Stakeholder views
Educators’ perceived role		PM students	Early career PM professionals	PM employers	PM professional bodies	PM university educators
Themes	Teaching content relevant to practice	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Providing career education and coaching	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Facilitating work experience	Y	Y	Y		Y
	Refreshing curriculum	Y				Y
	Engaging in open dialogue with alumni					Y
	Possessing industry experience		Y
	Engaging with industry			Y

Teaching content relevant to industry practice

All stakeholder groups, including the academics themselves, agreed that educators had a key role to ensure that the material taught in class should be relevant to industry practice. PM educators believed that part of their role entailed making use of real examples from the construction industry. They used industry scenarios to provide “industry relevance” (Educator #8) and to give students an awareness of what it is like to work in construction (Educator #2).

I try to design the course in such a way so that students have an understanding of different ways that the construction industry uses procurement methods and different contracts. I use examples from the construction industry. – Educator #8, male

PM students expected their lecturers to provide them with examples from industry to demonstrate and explain the theoretical concepts they were learning in the classroom. However, they thought that their lecturers could do much more to show how the theory could be applied on the construction site:

I am always harassing my teachers about examples … I need [theory] to be related back to an actual thing that happened, like a proper example to understand it. I find those more abstract things hard to understand. So just more real things that have happened – I feel like we don’t get enough of that. – PM student #8

The students and M graduates suggested there was a lack of consistency between lecturers. Some educators had more up-to-date knowledge of current industry practice and were better at communicating the relevance of classroom knowledge and techniques to contemporary construction practice:

With some lecturers, there is a bit of a gap between industry and what has been taught. Not sure if it’s because they [the lecturers] were in the industry a few years ago and things have changed since then. – PM student #14

Overall, the students felt that lecturers were responsible for the relevance of their teaching material and for being able to clearly demonstrate how this knowledge could be effectively applied in their professional role on construction projects:

You can save people a lot of time and effort by teaching people things that they are actually going to use and that they are actually going to experience. Uni should make sure it’s relevant and applicable to the job you will be working in. PM student #1

Early-career PM professionals shared very similar views to the PM students in that they identified that there was a difference between what they learned in class and what occurred in the industry. They felt they had not known how to use the knowledge they had learned at university in their workplace. Early-career PM professionals suggested that universities should use simulation exercises to allow students to experience how PM knowledge and techniques can be applied onsite.

I probably needed to know more of the knowledge we were learning in a practical sense.What it was going to apply to and how we would have to analyse what we were learning. – Early career PM #1

PM employers’ views were in alignment with those of both the PM students and early-career PM professionals in that they recommended that lecturers teach how the technical content they teach can be used in practice. Employers also called for educators to make sure that their curriculum content was relevant and regularly updated in line with current industry practice. PM employers believed that some of what was being taught at universities did not reflect contemporary industry practice.

I honestly believe that the learning they take out of university should be a lot more practical. Within our construction industry, a lot of it is experience so the only way that you do experience things is by being exposed more. I’m a big advocate of making sure that the learning is relevant. And to make sure that you are able to apply it in real life scenarios. – Employer #4

PM professional body representatives also shared the belief that educators were failing to ensure that students could apply what they had learned at university when they joined the workforce and believed this was “a problem” (Professional body member #5). Professional body representatives suggested that universities should provide more realistic in-class case studies and simulations so students can learn how theory and techniques are used in industry. They also advocated for the adoption of paid or unpaid internships and work placements as part of the requirements for successfully completing a PM degree.

There has to be more of a focus on industry accepted best practice and less on theory. – Professional body representative #1

I think internships definitely make a huge difference – sending students out in the workforce to get experience, throwing them in the deep end. I think graduates with an internship definitely have an advantage over graduates who don’t have that real work experience.- Professional body representative #7.

Providing career education and coaching

Despite educators not mentioning they had a role in providing career education to their PM students, all other stakeholders believed that career education and career coaching are an essential role of PM educators. The results revealed that stakeholders believed that educators had a role in providing the undergraduate students with career education, in terms of direction on how to seek and apply for a job and information on PM career paths. In addition, stakeholders also felt educators had a role in providing career coaching, whereby students could expect guidance from their educators on how to navigate potential challenges once in the workplace including salary expectations, employment contracts, and career progression challenges.

PM students felt that universities should be introducing them to the range of roles available for early-career PM professionals in the construction industry. Students were not aware of the different career opportunities. They also believed that educators were not providing them with sufficient guidance in relation to future career planning.

I have tried to speak to people about career options and they have sort of said, wait ‘til your third year you’ll kind of go over it then … And I never got that information and that was a little bit frustrating. – PM student #8

Current PM students expressed a desire for more experienced industry guest speakers who could inform them first-hand about career pathway options for PM professionals in construction.

I think a lot of people think Project Managers just sit in the office, do some site visits, but they actually coordinate and lead the work … We should get people in class to talk about their role and what they do onsite. – PM student #1

Early-career PM professionals expressed very similar views to the PM students. While early-career PM professionals felt that they knew how to apply for jobs, they felt totally underprepared for developing their career path once they had obtained work in the construction industry.

I felt comfortable getting a job but not how to handle myself day-to-day once I was in the job and how to continually progress with my career. And how to handle and control my own continuous learning.- Early career PM #1.

A number of early-career PM professionals agreed with the PM students in that they were unaware of and unprepared for the types of roles that were available upon graduation.

I would talk to some of the key roles; like we knew from uni. that a contract administrator was one of the basic roles that we could go into, and I don’t think we did a lot of things that related to that position. – Early career PM, #10.

PM employers’ views were also in alignment with those of the early career PM professionals and students. Construction employers believed that educators needed a stronger focus on the types of roles and opportunities available to early-career PM graduates and future career pathways once they enter the industry.

I’m noticing that at university they don’t give them an understanding of what different project managers do – the difference between construction project managers and client-side project managers etc. Students are struggling to know what they want. They need better coaching in what they could expect from these different roles in different companies. That would help them know where to focus their energy after graduation. – Employer #6, male.

[Educators need to] help them out with identifying career directions and where they can take their careers. – Employer #14.

PM professional body representatives agreed that educators could better prepare students about career options and pathways before they enter the workplace. PM professional body representatives believed that PM graduates were unaware of the many different possibilities for a satisfying and rewarding career in the construction industry.

Graduates might join the industry as a PM, but they need to know what the career plan looks like; what they’re going to do next. That career path is necessary. To have that career path gives the graduate clarity on how they will progress in their careers. – Professional body representative #8

PM professional body representatives also believed that university education on potential PM career paths would assist graduates well beyond their initial transition period. They suggest that early-career PMs could apply this knowledge to further advance and progress their PM career journey.

Graduates need to know how to keep their knowledge updated in terms of industry and in terms of PM knowledge and skills. I think it’s important to provide the students with a roadmap for after university. – Professional body representative #9

The fact that educators did not mention the provision of career education and career coaching as part of their role may indicate that educators do not consider this to be their responsibility. This may be because they consider this to be the responsibility of the university more broadly (i.e., through the university’s career services where students can seek help regarding careers and employment). Similarly, when asked to reflect on the role of educators, the other stakeholders may have conflated the role of educators with that of the entire university.

Facilitating work experience

Four stakeholder groups – PM educators, PM students, early-career PM professionals, and PM employers – all believed that educators had a role in facilitating work experience for their students, through initiatives embedded into curricula such as work integrated learning units, internships, and/or placements.

PM Educators believed that they were fulfilling their role in facilitating work experience by encouraging students to work part-time in construction jobs while completing their studies. Educators considered that the university facilitated this practical experience by providing a consolidated block timetable of 1–2 concentrated study days that allowed students the flexibility to work. They believed that this practice removed the need for work placements as part of the degree’s requirements.

We have flexible timetables. We don’t have an internship model; we have this model where we facilitate work. – Educator #6.

PM students, in stark contrast to the educators, placed a high value on gaining work experience and thought that work-integrated learning opportunities should be included as part of their degree. While many students were working while studying, often their work was unrelated to the construction industry. Contrary to educators’ beliefs that it was enough to encourage students to find work and facilitate their work experience through offering flexible timetables, students felt that their educators could do more to ensure all students could obtain relevant industry work experience. They asserted work experience would help with the consolidation of knowledge gained from their degree program.

I think gaining work experience in construction would help because I’m finding that as much as I’m learning in classes I don’t know how to apply that yet. I’m wanting to work in the industry so I can learn to apply the knowledge before I start working full time … I know a lot of other courses have work experience embedded but I haven’t been exposed to any of that. – PM student #7

Some students stressed the importance of universities providing the opportunity for industry work placements at least as a course elective. These students were mainly female. They suggested that the option for work-integrated learning in the degree program would be valuable for those who lacked the networks to source their own work experience placements.

I think a work placement initiative in the course would be awesome. If there’s a course around that, it doesn’t really leave anyone behind. – PM student #6.

Early-career PM professionals echoed the current PM students’ views, by observing that they would have greatly benefitted from a work experience option in the curriculum as it would have provided them with a realistic job preview, and have made them more work ready.

There’s nothing worse than getting to the end of your course and coming out here thinking sh*t “I’m not going to survive this – this is not what I want to do.” And I think gradually exposing students to industry would be the best thing because otherwise you suddenly jump in and you’re like holy crap – and that’s what I did. – Early career PM #4.

Having the university arrange some subjects through which you could get experience in the last few years – I think that would help a lot of people to be work-ready.– Early career PM, #7.

PM Employers also supported the embedding of work experience in the PM undergraduate degree, especially for later-stage students soon to join the workforce.

Refreshing the curriculum

Both PM educators and students mentioned that a key role of educators was to continuously refresh the curriculum so that it remains relevant to industry. None of the other stakeholders mentioned this theme.

Educators highlighted the importance of having an updated curriculum that reflects industry practice. From their experience, educators acknowledged that teaching material can get outdated and recognized the need to review and refresh their course content so that it remains relevant to practice in the contemporary construction worksite.

There is no point in teaching students something that is old and outdated and then they go out there and not even use it.- Educator, #4

One educator was concerned that her university’s program administrators and educators might not really know whether their degree was effectively delivering the knowledge and skills that industry currently needs.

Your program can “look” like it’s delivering everything, but it might not be … It is a very hard thing to ascertain if the program is delivering what is required in industry.- Educator #1.

PM students were generally dissatisfied with some aspects of subject content in their degree program. They believed that the course content and quality of learning materials tended to be inconsistent, with some subjects considered to be relevant and useful, with others less so.

I think some subject lecturers do [care about our work readiness], I really enjoy it and can see how it’s setting me up for the world. And then some subjects I almost feel like I’m in school again. – PM student #11

This feeling of being back “in school again” was shared by many students who believed they were not being respected as young adults or treated as emerging professionals. Some thought that in some courses, the content was taught at an inappropriate level and expressed a desire for the material to be more fit for industry practice..’

Sometimes we play such stupid games at uni. that just seem so childish … Sometimes it’s a basic math equation spread out over a 3-hour class that doesn’t really translate to industry. – PM student #11f.

Engaging in open dialogue with alumni

It was suggested by PM educators that they would be much better able to develop student work readiness if they had more opportunities to engage in dialogue with past PM graduates (i.e., alumni) now working in the construction industry. Educators believed that PM programs could do much more to develop regular formal and informal channels of communication between all educators and alumni working in construction to gain feedback on how well they are preparing their graduates for construction work. Such communication channels would help inform educators and administrators of the need for course modifications and improvements.

Alumni, I would have thought, are some of the most valuable sources of information, especially if we are looking to get feedback on how we are preparing PM graduates for the industry - they can see where the gaps are. – Educator #1.

Universities don’t ask students once they have graduated– ‘How did you go? Did we prepare you well?’ If there was a bit more dialogue between everyone then we could get a bit closer [to work readiness] I think. – Educator #4.

Educators need to possess industry experience

Early-career PM professionals expressed the view that educators who had previously worked in construction, or in a project management role, were the most effective teachers. These staff were able to demonstrate how classroom knowledge is applied in industry by drawing on their own past workplace examples. Participants believed that industry-experienced staff helped prepare them better for the reality of the workplace, making them more work ready.

Universities need more practicality in the teachers themselves … There are some great university teachers but as a whole, they could use more practical examples … not just teaching out of a book.- Early career PM #20.

What I would suggest is that they [universities] have more people that have had experience in the industry, not just PhDs who have gone straight into university teaching – Early career PM #10.

No other stakeholder groups identified possessing industry experience as key to PM educators’ role in ensuring their graduates work ready. However, this theme is linked to the themes of “engaging with industry” and “teaching content relevant to industry”, in that it would be expected that lecturers with relevant construction industry experience would be better placed to satisfy some of the other responsibilities identified as key to preparing work-ready PMs.

Engaging with industry

PM employers felt that universities should engage more with employer organizations to assist in a collaborative process to develop work-ready graduates. Many employers indicated a keenness to assist educators to foster in students the necessary skills for establishing a successful early career in the PM profession in construction. Some employers revealed that they had initiated such collaborations in the hope that they could benefit the future of the construction industry.

We approached the university a little while ago … we actually said to them, “Anything that you want from us, to help build, structure your course, come in and do talks.” We actually tried to do a partnership with the university – Employer #4.

While employers felt quite strongly about educators needing to engage in dialogue with them, apart from two female educators who expressed a desire for dialogue with alumni working in construction, surprisingly most educators did not mention engaging or partnering with industry as important to developing work-ready PM graduates for the construction industry.

Discussion

This study addressed the research question: What is the role of educators in equipping PM professionals with the work-ready attributes they need to successfully work in the Australian construction industry? The results will now be discussed, making comparisons between the current study in the Australian context with other studies within the broader construction literature in other geographical contexts.

At a holistic level, there were some inconsistencies in stakeholders’ views about the role of PM educators in developing work-ready PM professionals for the construction industry, where some stakeholder groups’ beliefs were not echoed by other stakeholders. In particular, there were differences between what many of the stakeholder groups considered was the role of educators and what educators themselves saw as part of their role. For example, while all other stakeholders agreed that career education and work experience were essential elements in creating work-ready graduates, PM educators did not consider them to be important. From a Human Capital view, it is of concern that the PM educators’ perceptions are not well aligned with the expectations of their key stakeholders, which suggests that PM educators may be neglecting part of their primary responsibility to develop the market-required skills in their undergraduate student cohorts (Chigbu & Nekhwevha, 2022). However, this observed discord in perception may be due to different stakeholders’ lack of understanding of the higher education system. Educators may not have mentioned the provision of career education and career coaching as part of their role, due to this generally being considered the responsibility of the university through its careers support services. On the other hand, due to their limited understanding of the higher education system and university services more broadly, the other stakeholders may be conflating the role of PM educators with that of the centralized university career unit.

This apparent discord between the views of academics and industry practitioners is not unexpected given the contentious debate in the higher education literature over where the responsibility for work readiness lies (see Cavanagh et al., 2015; Donald et al., 2019; Huq & Gilbert, 2013). Moreover, in the construction literature in other developed countries, scholars have identified the gap in understanding between industry and academia (e.g., Naveed et al., 2017; O’Neill et al., 2023; Savage et al., 2010). Within the context of construction management in Ireland, O’Neill et al. (2023) found a significant gap between the development of industry and academia. Our findings highlight that this discord is also prevalent in the context of PM education in Australia. In the next two sections of the discussion, we highlight i) the perceived role of university educators in preparing work-ready PM professionals for construction careers as elicited from this research, and ii) we compare these to findings from other studies in the construction literature in other geographical contexts.

Stakeholders’ perceptions of the PM educator’s role

Integration of work experience and industry relevance into the undergraduate degree

Both the PM students and early-career professionals in this study considered that work experience was important to enable an easier transition into the construction workforce. This may be an additional reason for previous findings that a growing number of Australian students are combining work in construction with their undergraduate degree studies (Mills et al., 2012; P. Moore & Loosemore, 2014) to improve their attractiveness to employers (Kinash et al., 2016). This finding is consistent with Human Capital theory in that work experience builds greater graduate work readiness. Our study revealed that PM students and graduates expected their PM educators to integrate work experience into their degrees to ensure that all students had access to work experience opportunities. While PM educators acknowledged that they had a role in encouraging and accommodating work, the study findings showed that PM students and early-career professionals did not consider their efforts to be adequate. This suggests that it is not enough to merely have the development of work-ready attributes embedded in a PM undergraduate program (Borg & Scott-Young, 2020b); work experience should be an essential component of the degree as well. This finding is consistent with other studies in the construction literature which have advocated for the importance of internships in construction degree programs (e.g., Adcox, 2000; Chapin et al., 2003; Hager et al., 2003) as well as hands-on experience (Aliu et al., 2023).

In addition, PM students and early-career PM professionals suggested that employing more educators with industry experience would help bring relevant industry insights into the classroom and provide better linking of theory to practical applications. This was consistent with calls from PM employers and PM professional bodies who advocated for greater integration of practical elements into PM university degrees. Moreover, this emphasis on ensuring that students can familiarize themselves with the work environment while at university, is consistent with the findings of another recent study in the Australian construction context (Ershadi et al., 2021), which found that educators can help develop resilience (a key work readiness attribute) of their construction management students through the facilitation of industry engagement. Our findings highlight that educators’ role in facilitating industry engagement is also important for producing work-ready PM graduates for careers in the Australian construction industry.

Provision of career education

All stakeholder groups apart from the PM Educators themselves believed that undergraduate PM degrees should be educating students about the different roles in construction, both client and contractor side that will be available to them once they graduate, possible future career trajectories, and developing their career mapping skills. However, consistent with one other PM study (Havermans et al., 2019), our research found that universities were not educating their students about career pathways. Our finding also reflects a deficit in discipline-specific employment and career education (Jackson, 2019) found across the entire Australian university sector which leaves graduates unaware of the importance of career planning and how to seek out career development opportunities during their early-career stage. In the engineering education literature, Craps et al. (2021, p. 279) recommended that “curriculum designers should be aware of the differences in professional roles and maintain flexibility so that graduates know how to choose from a variety of career options.” While Craps et al. (2021) were referring specifically to educators and curriculum designers of engineering programs, their recommendation that educators need to consider the professional roles which the graduates can enter upon graduation, is in alignment with the findings of our research in the context of PM.

It should be of concern that despite stakeholder expectations, the PM educators themselves were not aware of the foundational importance of delivering a career education (Caballero & Walker, 2010) for developing work-ready graduates who are well equipped for a successful transition into the workforce (Jackson, 2019). This finding suggests that in Australia at least, undergraduate PM educators are not addressing concerns about the lack of adequate career education that have been voiced in the mainstream education literature for several decades (e.g., Caballero & Walker, 2010; De La Harpe et al., 2000).

Communication and collaboration with key stakeholders

All participants agreed that in order to develop student work readiness, educators need to dialogue more with key stakeholder groups. This is consistent with the Shared Value position (Buchholz & Rosenthal, 2005), which argues that creating positive mutually beneficial relationships and collaboration with multiple key stakeholders brings a competitive advantage to all involved. Although PM educators believed they needed to engage more with their working alumni, construction employers and the PM peak bodies believe that educators also needed to collaborate more with employer organizations in the industry in order to foster work readiness. It must be acknowledged, however, that educators cannot embark on this endeavor to “bridge the gap” between higher educational institutions and industry themselves; indeed, within construction, scholars (O’Neill et al., 2023) have found that there are inhibitors which restrict higher educational institutions from being able to achieve alignment. Such inhibiting factors include a lack of incentive for staff to put work toward engaging with industry and complex organizational structures that do not facilitate collaboration (O’Neill et al., 2023).

The effort to communicate and collaborate therefore needs to be championed by the many stakeholders involved. In the higher education literature, such recommendations are not novel as scholars (e.g., Jackson, 2019; Mason et al., 2009) have called for universities to develop stronger ties and involvement with employers to help produce work-ready graduates. In both the education literature (e.g., Su, 2014) and the construction literature (e.g., Amaratunga et al., 2012), there have also been calls for greater collaboration and consultation between educators, students, and alumni. In the PM literature, Burga et al. (2020) have argued for more regular interchanges between educators and employers to develop curriculum content that prepares PM graduates for work, but their study was conducted in Canada and did include PM practitioners wanting careers in construction.

The shared perception of the stakeholder groups in this study – that stakeholder collaboration is critical to developing work-ready Australian PM professionals – echoes the findings of scholars in other disciplines and geographical contexts (e.g., Burga et al., 2020; Cavanagh et al., 2015; Farooqui & Ahmed, 2009). The findings of this study therefore i) confirm that stakeholder collaboration as key to achieving work readiness also holds true in the context of preparing PM graduates for the Australian construction industry but ii) that despite calls in the broader education, management, construction, and PM literatures for greater collaboration, this was not occurring between the PM educators and their stakeholder groups within the context explored in this research.

Summary of key points

In summary, our research showed that the various stakeholders in our study recognized the critical role that educators have in developing the work ready skills of PM graduates. Educator’s role in fostering work readiness was perceived by stakeholders to entail:

1. the integration of work experience and industry relevance within the PM degree,

2. the provision of career education that allowed students to plan their PM careers beyond their degree, and,

3. the communication with other key stakeholders (i.e., employers, PM bodies, and PM alumni) to enable the provision of feedback and exchange of dialogue pertaining to the needs of industry and the experiences of organizations and past students themselves pertaining to work readiness in practice.

Recommendations for practice

Based on our research findings, we make some evidence-based research recommendations for educational practice. These may help PM educators to better cater to the work readiness requirements of their PM students. To better ensure they are fostering work readiness in their PM students, PM educators may wish to focus on:

1. bringing in examples from industry into their PM subject – they can do this by inviting industry speakers to their classes or by using real industry-based case studies in their teaching,

2. ensuring that students have a clear understanding of PM career pathways, from junior PM roles to more senior PM roles – they can do this by mapping typical/atypical PM careers, bringing in PMs from industry to share their career journeys, etc., and,

3. communicating with other key stakeholders such as PM employers, PM bodies, PM alumni – they can do this by setting up an industry and alumni network, whereby various stakeholders can meet at regular intervals to provide feedback on work readiness challenges and skills challenges observed in industry and workshop effective solutions.

Limitations and directions for future research

This study has shed light on the rarely studied area of preparing work-ready PM graduates for construction careers. Since this study was conducted in Australia, our findings are limited in that they may not generalize beyond this context. Therefore, we recommend that further research be conducted in other countries.

Moreover, another key limitation is that our study focused only on educators’ role in preparing PM graduates. We recognize that other stakeholders also have a key role in developing work readiness (i.e., the graduates themselves and their employing organizations). In addition, given that our study is limited to the PM discipline within construction, we note that the findings that are true for this study may not be applicable to other disciplines within construction. We therefore recommend that researchers could study other professions employed in construction (e.g., engineering, architecture, and quantity surveying).

In addition, we recognize that the different experiences and knowledge horizons of the different stakeholder groups may affect each individual stakeholder’s understanding of work readiness and as such, which their expectations of the role of educators in developing work readiness in PMs may vary based on differing understandings of work readiness. We did not probe the sources of stakeholders’ beliefs or their knowledge horizons. At the same time, this limitation also highlights the importance of looking at work readiness from the views of the differing stakeholders – all of whom are integral to the successful achievement of work readiness.

Furthermore, given that our results highlight a lack of collaboration currently occurring between PM educators and other stakeholder groups including industry, we suggest that future research look toward exploring factors that successfully facilitate shared value for key stakeholders in the context of PM and construction education.

Conclusion

This study provides new insights from the perceptions of multiple stakeholders into the critical role that university educators play in developing PM professionals ready to successfully commence their careers in construction. These findings serve as an early step toward understanding how PM educators can better ensure their PM graduates are equipped with the work readiness attributes, they need to perform effectively in construction. While studies have looked into educators' role in equipping students from other disciplinary studies for careers within the construction industry (i.e., construction management – O’Neill et al., 2023), to the researchers’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to qualitatively explore the role of educators in developing PM professionals who are work-ready for careers in the Australian construction industry. This is particularly important, given scholars’ assertions that work readiness is contextual and necessitates exploration within specific contexts in order to holistically gain an understanding into the unique requirements of the concept within a particular context (i.e., geographical, industry, etc.). Moreover, by drawing on work readiness research in other disciplines including education (e.g., Kinash et al., 2016), management (e.g., Cavanagh et al., 2015; Prikshat et al., 2018), project management (e.g., Borg & Scott-Young, 2022; Floris et al., 2020) and construction (e.g., Moore & Plugge, 2008, Naveed et al., 2017) we were able to leverage the conceptual and theoretical understandings of the concept (including through Stakeholder Theory and Human Capital Theory perspectives) and apply these lenses to our current study. In this way, our manuscript highlights the value of exploring work readiness within a specific context, but also the benefit of drawing from work readiness research conducted within other contexts to enrich such contextual studies. Furthermore, by exploring five key stakeholder groups, this study provides a holistic overview of the perceptions and expectations of multiple stakeholder groups pertaining to work readiness within the explored context. This study has provided new knowledge about the work readiness of construction PMs and how educators can better prepare them for their early careers. This research has also shed light on the multiple PM stakeholders’ views of the key responsibilities of educators to foster work readiness in their PM graduates embarking on careers in construction in Australia and has compared these with findings from the broader construction management and education literature. Consistent with Human Capital Theory and the shared value perspective, we argue that through focused efforts targeted at developing work-ready PM talent and through carefully considering other stakeholders’ perceptions and work-readiness expectations, PM educators can make a positive contribution to the construction industry. With the industry facing critical PM skill shortages, and new graduates taking about a year to adapt to the industry, targeted efforts of PM educators to develop work-ready PM professionals will make an important contribution to building human capital for project-based construction organizations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).