Attracting K-12 Students to the Construction Workforce through an Interactive Career Expo

Abstract:

The workforce shortage has become a critical issue in the construction industry in the United States, and many people believe that the shortage will be prevalent for years. The main reasons for the construction workforce shortage are the aging workforce and a lack of interest from young people in joining the industry. As educators in construction, we need to actively participate in events that provide opportunities to interact with children and young adults so that we can provide them with information about career opportunities in the construction industry and boost the image of the construction industry. Research studies show that kids start to make career choices when they are in 8^th or 9^th grade. Boosting awareness of construction career possibilities for kids in that age group is an important effort to attract young talent to the construction field. This paper describes an effort to provide early construction career exposure opportunities to K-12 students through an interactive career expo organized by a local non-profit organization.

• Periodical: Construction Technologies and Architecture (Volume 13)
• Pages: 155-162
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-xQ3WrV
• Online since: July 2024
• Authors: Fan Zhang, Mehmet Emre Bayraktar*
• Keywords: Career Awareness, Career Expo, Construction Workforce, K-12 Education, Labor Shortage

References

[1] Associated Builders and Contractors (2023). "Construction Workforce Shortage Tops Half a Million in 2023, Says ABC." ABC News Releases, published February 9, 2023. <https://www.abc.org/News-Media/News-Releases/categoryid/1408> (May 9, 2023)

[2] Kim, S., Chang, S., & Castro-Lacouture, D. (2020). "Dynamic modeling for analyzing impacts of skilled labor shortage on construction project management". Journal of Management in Engineering, 36(1).

DOI: 10.1061/(asce)me.1943-5479.0000720

[3] U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis (2023). GDP by Industry. <https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-industry> (May 9, 2023)

[4] Atluri, E. (2018). "Effective Strategies to Reduce The Impacts of Skilled Worker Shortages in The Construction Industry." Master of Science Thesis, Colorado State University, Fall 2018.

[5] Mbala, M., Aigbavboa, C., and Aliu J. (2019). "Causes of Delay in Various Construction Projects: A Literature Review." Advances in Human Factors, Sustainable Urban Planning and Infrastructure. AHFE 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 788.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-94199-8_47

[6] Bilau, A. A., et al. (2015). "Review of Shortage of Skilled Craftsmen in Small and Medium Construction Firms in Nigeria." Journal of Environment and Earth Science, 5(15), 98-110.

[7] George, A., Aboagye-Nimo, E., & Mamphey S. (2022). "The Effects of Skills Shortages on Construction Costs in the UK." Proceedings of The Institution of Civil Engineers -Management, Procurement and Law, 175(2), 78-86.

DOI: 10.1680/jmapl.21.00011

[8] Chini, A. R., Brown, B. H., & Drummond E. G. (1999). "Causes of the Construction Skilled Labor Shortage and Proposed Solutions." ASC Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference, April 7-10, 1999, San Luis Obispo, California.

[9] Garza, D. (2019). "Reforming U.S. Immigration Policy: A Case for Merit-Based Immigration?" Master of Arts Thesis, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California.

[10] Morello, A., Issa, R. R., & Franz, B. (2018). "Exploratory Study of Recruitment and Retention of Women in the Construction Industry." ASCE J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 2018, 144(2)

DOI: 10.1061/(asce)ei.1943-5541.0000359

[11] Shikweni, S., Schurink W., & Van Wyk, R (2019). "Talent management in the South African construction industry." SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 17(0), a1094.

DOI: 10.4102/sajhrm.v17i0.1094

[12] Al-Bayati, A. J. et al. (2020). "Cyclical Construction Workforce Shortage: An Evaluation of the Current Shortage in the Western North Carolina." Construction Research Congress 2020, March 8-10, 2020, Tempe, Arizona.

DOI: 10.1061/9780784482872.070

[13] Sener, E. M. and Ward, R. E (2000). "Addressing the Workforce Shortage in the Construction Industry: A Vision." 2000 ASEE Annual Conference, June 18-21, 2000, St. Louis, Missouri.

DOI: 10.18260/1-2--8159

[14] Kashiwagi, D. T. and Massner, S. (2002). "Solving the Construction Craftperson Skill Shortage Problem Through Construction Undergraduate and Graduate Education." ASC Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference, April 11-13, 2002, Blacksburg, Virginia.

[15] Fiori, C. M. (2003). "What's Wong with Working in Construction? How Image and Diversity Issues Are Affecting the Shortage of Skilled Labor." Construction Research Congress 2003, March 19-21, 2003, Honolulu, Hawaii.

DOI: 10.1061/40671(2003)3

[16] McGrath-Champ, S., Rosewarne, S., & Rittau, Y. (2011) "From One Skill Shortage to the Next: The Australian Construction Industry and Geographies of a Global Labour Market." Journal of Industrial Relations, 53(4), 467-485.

DOI: 10.1177/0022185611412897

[17] Zaki, S., Mohamed, S., & Yusof, Z. (2012). "Construction Skilled Labour Shortage – The Challenges in Malaysian Construction Sector." OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development, 4(5), 99-108.

[18] Hamid, A., Singh, B. & Mazlan, M. (2013). "The Construction Labour Shortage in Johor Bahru, Malaysia." International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology, 2(10), 508-512.

DOI: 10.15623/ijret.2013.0210078

[19] Oseghale, B.O., Abiola-Falemu, J.O., & Oseghale G.E (2015). "An Evaluation of Skilled Labour Shortage in Selected Construction Firms in Edo State, Nigeria." American Journal of Engineering Research, 4(1), 156-167.

[20] Pathirana, L. (2021). "Construction Industry and Factor Condition Prospective of Sri Lanka: A Special Reference to Skill Labour Shortage." IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 23(2), 35-41.

[21] Juricic, B. B., Galic, M., & Marenjak, S. (2021). "Review of the Construction Labour Demand and Shortages in the EU." Buildings, 11(1).

DOI: 10.3390/buildings11010017

[22] Lawani, K. et al. (2022). "Skill Shortage of Bricklayers in Scotland." Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 20(1), 321-228.

[23] Albattah, M. A., Goodrum, P. M., & Taylor, T. R. (2015). "Demographic Influences on Construction Craft Shortages in The U.S. and Canada." CSCE 11th Construction Specialty Conference, June 8-10, 2015, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

[24] National Association of Home Builders (2021). "Median Age of Construction Worker in Line with National Average." NAHB Economics Blog, published May 26, 2021. <https://www.nahb.org/blog/2021/05/median-age-of-construction-worker-in-line-with-national-average> (May 13, 2023).

DOI: 10.18260/p.24425

[25] Wang, C., Ikuma, L. & Hondzinski, J. (2017). "Application of Assistive Wearable Robotics to Alleviate Construction Workforce Shortage: Challenges and Opportunities." ASCE International Workshop on Computing in Civil Engineering, June 25-27, 2017, Seattle, Washington.

DOI: 10.1061/9780784480830.044

[26] Chope, R. C. (2005). "Qualitatively Assessing Family Influence in Career Decision Making." Journal of Career Assessment, 13(4), 395-414.

DOI: 10.1177/1069072705277913

[27] Dick, T. P. and Rallis, S. F. (1991). "Factors and Influences on High School Students' Career Choices." Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 22 (4), 281-292.

DOI: 10.5951/jresematheduc.22.4.0281

[28] Kocak et al. (2021). "The Role of Family Influence and Academic Satisfaction on Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy and Happiness." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021, 18, 5919.

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18115919

[29] Palos, R. and Drobot, L. (2010). "The Impact of Family Influence on the Career Choice of Adolescents." Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2 (2010), 3407-3411.

DOI: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.524

[30] Pearson, W. and Miller, J. D. (2012). "Pathways to an Engineering Career." Peabody Journal of Education, 87: 46-61, 2012.

[31] Akosah-Twumasi P. et al. (2018). "A Systematic Review of Factors That Influence Youths Career Choices—the Role of Culture." Front. Educ. 3:58, July 2018.

DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2018.00058