Training Underserved Communities in Construction Trades for Social Mobility and Job Equity

To promote social mobility and job equity in low-income communities, this research demonstrates a successful pedagogy that educates, trains, and certifies lower-income and underserved individuals, including unemployed, veterans, women, individuals aging out of foster care, and the homeless to join the construction industry, thus filling the critical shortage of skilled craft workers in construction. The goals of this research are to (1) identify gaps in construction trade knowledge of low-income individuals, (2) evaluate if individuals found better job opportunities after completing a construction trades program (CTP), and (3) identify pedagogy including course delivery and instructional technologies to effectively educate and train particularly the low-income workforce on basic construction knowledge and offer them the needed skills to find better job opportunities in this well-paid industry. To achieve these goals, this research surveyed 65 students, alumni, and faculty of a CTP that serves low-income and underserved communities. The results of this study showed that students of a CTP obtained better job opportunities and highlighted the importance of training low-income individuals in construction trades for social mobility. This study provides strategies for low-income communities to join the construction workforce, thus leading to a diverse workforce and filling in the construction workforce gap.