Understanding Female Students’ Choice of a Construction Management Undergraduate Degree Program: Case Study at an Australian University
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 144, Issue 3
Abstract
The considerably low female student enrollments in construction management (CM) undergraduate degree programs have continued to draw attention from academia. With a cohort of local and international female students in a CM program in an Australian university, this case study examined the students’ CM degree choice decision, their learning experience, the strategies for attracting more female students to CM programs, and recommendations were made for CM program recruitment efforts based on the findings. The interview results show that, for both local and international student groups, their personal interest in construction and career opportunities were the most important factors that influenced their CM degree choice decision. For the international student group, however, there were additional influencing factors including immigration opportunities after graduation, financial considerations, program entry requirements, and program duration. Although the international students would like to have support in finding internships, both student groups generally had positive learning experiences in their studies. Both student groups identified the need to advertise more about CM programs as a part of recruitment strategies. It is recommended that information and resources about CM programs be made readily accessible to current and future CM students, high school counselors, and education service providers in a timely manner via social media platforms and the Internet.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Adogbo, K. J., Ibrahim, A. D., and Ibrahim, Y. M. (2015). “Development of a framework for attracting and retaining women in construction practice.” J. Constr. Develop. Countries, 20(1), 99–115.
Bennett, J. F., Davidson, M. J., and Galeand, A. W. (1999). “Women in construction: A comparative investigation into the expectations and experiences of female and male construction undergraduates and employees.” Women Manage. Rev., 14(7), 273–292.
Bigelow, B. F., Bilbo, D., Mathew, M., Ritter, L., and Elliott, J. W. (2015). “Identifying the most effective factors in attracting female undergraduate students to construction management.” Int. J. Constr. Educ. Res., 11(3), 179–195.
Bigelow, B. F., Saseendran, A., and Elliott, J. W. (2017). “Attracting students to construction education programs: An exploration of perceptions by gender.” Int. J. Constr. Educ. Res., 1–19.
Bodycott, P. (2009). “Choosing a higher education study abroad destination: What mainland Chinese parents and students rate as important.” J. Res. Int. Educ., 8(3), 349–373.
Braun, V., and Clarke, V. (2006). “Using thematic analysis in psychology.” Qual. Res. Psychol., 3(2), 77–101.
Dainty, A. R., and Edwards, D. J. (2003). “The UK building education recruitment crisis: A call for action.” Constr. Manage. Econ., 21(7), 767–775.
Del Puerto, C., Guggemos, A. C., and Shane, J. S. (2011). “Exploration of strategies for attracting and retaining female construction management students.” Proc., 47th ASC Annual Int. Conf., Associated Schools of Construction, Fort Collins, CO, 6–9.
Department of Education and Training. (2016). “Monthly summary of international student data January–October 2016, Australia.” ⟨https://internationaleducation.gov.au/research/International-Student-Data/Documents/MONTHLY%20SUMMARIES/2016/10_October_2016_MonthlySummary.pdf⟩ (Jan. 4, 2016).
Dick, T. P., and Rallis, S. F. (1991). “Factors and influences on high school students’ career choices.” J. Res. Math. Educ., 22(4), 281–292.
Escamilla, E., Ostadalimakhmalbaf, M., and Bigelow, B. F. (2016). “Factors impacting Hispanic high school students and how to best reach them for the careers in the construction industry.” Int. J. Constr. Educ. Res., 12(2), 82–98.
Fielden, S. L., Davidson, M. J., Gale, A. W., and Davey, C. L. (2000). “Women in construction: The untapped resource.” Constr. Manage. Econ., 18(1), 113–121.
Francis, V., and Prosser, A. (2014). “Exploring vocational guidance and gender in construction.” Int. J. Constr. Educ. Res., 10(1), 39–57.
Koch, D. C., Greenan, J., and Newton, K. (2009). “Factors that influence students’ choice of careers in construction management.” Int. J. Constr. Educ. Res., 5(4), 293–307.
Ling, F. Y. Y., and Ho, S. W. K. (2013). “Understanding and impressions of jobs in the construction industry by young adults in Singapore.” J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 109–115.
Ling, F. Y. Y., Leow, X. X., and Lee, K. C. (2016). “Strategies for attracting more construction-trained graduates to take professional jobs in the construction industry.” J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 04015009.
Ling, F. Y. Y., and Poh, Y. P. (2004). “Encouraging more female graduates to enter the construction industry.” Women Manage. Rev., 19(8), 431–436.
Menches, C. L., and Abraham, D. M. (2007). “Women in construction—Tapping the untapped resource to meet future demands.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 701–707.
Moore, J. D., and Gloeckner, G. W. (2007). “A theory of women’s career choice in construction management: Recommendations for academia.” Int. J. Constr. Educ. Res., 3(2), 123–139.
Oo, B. L., and Widjaja, E. C. (2018). “Female student enrolments in construction management programs.” Proc., 21st Int. Symp. on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate, Springer, Singapore, 789–798.
Ryan, R., Dowler, B., Bruce, S., Gamage, S., and Morris, A. (2016). “The wellbeing of international students in the city of Sydney.” Univ. of Technology Sydney and Institute of Public Policy and Governance, Ultimo, Australia.
Sewalk, S., and Nietfeld, K. (2013). “Barriers preventing women from enrolling in construction management programs.” Int. J. Constr. Educ. Res., 9(4), 239–255.
Shane, J., del Puerto, C. L., Strong, K., Mauro, K., and Wiley-Jones, R. (2012). “Retaining women students in a construction engineering undergraduate program by balancing integration and identity in student communities.” Int. J. Constr. Educ. Res., 8(3), 171–185.
UAC (Universities Admissions Centre). (2018). “UAC general information.” ⟨http://www.uac.edu.au⟩ (Dec. 10, 2016).
Wilkes, J. T., Nobe, M. C., Clevenger, C. M., and Cross, J. E. (2015). “Needs assessment: Identifying and addressing high school counselors’ perceptions of construction management.” Int. J. Constr. Educ. Res., 11(3), 196–217.
Worrall, L., Harris, K., Stewart, R., Thomas, A., and McDermott, P. (2010). “Barriers to women in the UK construction industry.” Eng. Constr. Archit. Manage., 17(3), 268–281.
Yang, M. (2007). “What attracts mainland Chinese students to Australian higher education.” Stud. Learn. Eval. Innovation Dev., 4(2), 1–12.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 144 • Issue 3 • July 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 9, 2017
Accepted: Nov 14, 2017
Published online: Mar 13, 2018
Published in print: Jul 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Aug 13, 2018
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.