Work readiness of project management graduates in construction: a multi-method multi-vocal qualitative study
Creators: name: Borg, Jessica
Publisher: name: RMIT University
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 330202
subject: Building construction management and project planning

description: Work readiness encompasses an individual's competence in a range of attributes that enable him/her to successfully transition into work. While continuing to gain increasing interest worldwide, the concept of work readiness remains one that is difficult to define. Literature on the work readiness of graduates in the project management profession is scarce. This PhD study addresses this lack by exploring work readiness within the context of the project management discipline and the Australian construction industry. Given the complexity of the concept of work readiness, the research framework drew on the multiple theoretical lenses of Stakeholder Theory, Human Capital Theory and Matching Theory as well as the underlying principles of the Resource-Based View and the Shared Value Perspective. This research adopted a multi-method research strategy consisting of three interdependent phases. The first phase used a document analysis of program learning outcomes of all fourteen project management bachelor's degrees offered in Australia to explore the work-ready attributes embedded in Australian project management degree programs. The second phase adopted a multi-vocal holistic embedded case study design. Seventy-five semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with five stakeholder groups with a vested interested in project management education and the pathway into construction (current students, educators, recent graduates, employers and project professional bodies). This phase explored the different stakeholders' perspectives of work readiness within the project management discipline. The inclusion of both the students' and graduates' voices is novel since these voices have been largely silent in the work-readiness discourse to date. The third and final phase of the research entailed a focus group with key informants from the five key stakeholder groups to validate the findings and generate evidence-based recommendations for the enhancement of the work readiness of emerging project management professionals within the construction industry.

As well as identifying the work-readiness attributes embedded in current Australian undergraduate project management degrees, this research has also consolidated the fragmented perspectives of five major stakeholders to develop an integrated holistic understanding of what constitutes work readiness for project management graduates working in construction. The results of this research show that i) work-readiness attributes are contextual and may vary based on country, university, and school where the degree is offered, ii) misalignments exist between stakeholder perspectives with an observed divide between stakeholders with industry experience and those without, and iii) while all stakeholders value work readiness, there is limited stakeholder collaboration towards its development. Finally, this research puts forward a set of evidence-based practical recommendations which can be exercised by the five stakeholder groups to encourage a collective, collaborative strategy to enhance student work readiness. The results of this research may be of value to universities offering undergraduate project management degrees, which have an interest in considering the perspectives of industry employers, peak professional bodies, as well as their graduates and students when looking to build upon their work-readiness initiatives. In addition, it is expected that the recommendations from this research will have benefits for employers and project management professional bodies as well as for undergraduate project management students and graduates who wish to pursue careers in the Australian construction industry.