Transforming Construction Engineering Education through Inclusiveness Training and Managing Expectations

The engineering, architecture, and construction professions have lost talents to other industries because millennials and Generation Z tend to misapprehend the workplace expectations of inclusion and work-life balance (WLB). Construction careers are highly stressful and demanding, with pressures including meeting tight deadlines, aligning multiple stakeholders, and managing disputes. There is a disconnect between the perception/experience provided to students during their studies, which results in challenges, particularly the coordination between personal and professional life, commonly known as WLB. The goals of this study are to investigate (1) the organizations' efforts, challenges, and concerns to recruit and retain new workforce through interviewing industry professionals, and (2) the role that WLB and other factors, including wage, job location, and benefits, play when considering a job offer in the construction industry through surveying civil engineering and construction management students. The study results indicated that WLB is a priority for the future workforce and that inadequate WLB could result in project delays, higher project costs, and a devastating effect on the employees' mental and physical health. The findings of this study serve the construction industry and construction stakeholders by promoting awareness of the importance of WLB to recruit and retain new workforce.