Developing a proof-of-concept curriculum foundation model for industry 5.0: A primary data survey of built environment academics

Purpose: Higher education curriculum development in the construction industry has historically received scant academic attention and often, courses/programmes are largely developed using the tacit knowledge of individual tutors. This research investigates the core interpersonal and technical skills and competencies required of a contemporary construction management graduate. Specifically, the work culminates in the development of a proof-of-concept model that could be incorporated into higher education curriculum development. Methodology: A mixed philosophical stance is implemented using both postpositivism and interpretivism together with inductive and abductive reasoning to examine built environment academics’ perceptions of the phenomena under investigation. Descriptive and inferential statistics (i.e., weighted average, relative importance index, one sample t test, Chi-square test and Kruskal-Wallis test) are utilised to formulate a foundational set of core interpersonal skills for construction management curricula. Such knowledge provides a strong foundation for building an optimised course curriculum. Findings: Research findings demonstrate that, whilst technical skills are relatively important for the construction manager’s role, they significantly pale in comparison to interpersonal skills. Furthermore, an aggregate ranking of skills and competencies suggests that a substantial number of interpersonal skills and competencies out-rank numerous technical skills and competencies. Surprisingly, digital-esque themes rank towards the bottom of the table, with ‘traditional’ skills competencies (i.e., workflow, budgeting and costing) ranking higher. Originality: This research constitutes the first attempt to: understand the core interpersonal and technical skills and competencies required of a contemporary construction manager; and premised upon this, generate a construction management education curriculum foundation model. Nascent findings pinpoint the core interpersonal skills and competencies that serve as the curriculum’s foundation and expose the inadequacies of digital technical skills in core construction management teaching.