What 21st Century CM Graduates Need to Know and Be Able to Do: Results of a Needs Assessment Study Using Industry Focus Groups

The need for construction management programs to maintain a curriculum that is relevant to current and future industry needs is a regular challenge. The most accessible option for conducting a curriculum needs assessment is to do it within the program among the faculty and administration. While it is essential for these stakeholders to be key participants, their view includes only a portion of the critical perspective. A holistic evaluation should include multiple perspectives from key stakeholders, namely faculty, students, and industry. However, little literature on needs assessment incorporates the student perspective. This paper reports on results of employing a focus group approach to gain insight from recent graduates of a CM program to determine the essential knowledge and skills required of new graduates in the construction management industry. Results from two different focus group sessions indicate recent CM graduates should possess a suite of technical skills but more importantly a strong set of soft skills.