Concurrent Undergraduate Study and Industry Experience - The Australian Experience

Mills, A; Smith, PV

Concurrent Undergraduate Study and Industry Experience - The Australian Experience

Mills, A Smith, PV

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Publisher:: Pertubuhan Ukur Jurutera & Arkitek
Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: 16th Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors Congress, 2012, pp. 1 - 14
Issue Date:: 2012-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Mills, A	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Smith, PV https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5825-2014	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Mohamed, H	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Jamil, S	en_US
dc.date	2012-07-07	en_US
dc.date.issued	2012-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	16th Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors Congress, 2012, pp. 1 - 14	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/31302
dc.description.abstract	Undergraduate education in Quantity Surveying (QS) and Construction Management (CM) in Australia has traditionally incorporated concurrent industry experience as an important requisite prior to graduation. This has been primarily driven by accrediting professional associations but most universities have also recognized the value of this cooperative approach to education with industry. However, in recent years many universities have become concerned about the amount of time that students are spending in industry employment to the point where, for some students, their employment takes precedence over their academic studies. Past research has shown that working long hours has a negative effect on the study patterns of undergraduate students. This paper presents the results of research undertaken to examine the amount of time that Quantity Surveying and Construction Management students actually spend engaged in paid work during semester time and the impact on their studies. The methodology for the research was based on two separate questionnaire surveys distributed to undergraduate Quantity Surveying and Construction Management students at 7 universities across Australia. The questionnaires focused on the nature and extent of their paid work while enrolled in full-time study. The results indicate that students in the early stages of their program tend to undertake casual work that is not related to their degree but move to construction industry employment in the later stages of their program. The research found that students were spending an average of 18 hours per week in industry employment with this average increasing to over 23 hours in their final year. A number of students were spending well over 30 hours per week in industry employment. The implications of the extent of this concurrent industry employment are discussed.	en_US
dc.publisher	Pertubuhan Ukur Jurutera & Arkitek	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	16th Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors Congress	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors Congress and Board Meeting	en_US
dc.title	Concurrent Undergraduate Study and Industry Experience - The Australian Experience	en_US
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
utslib.location	Brunei Darussalam	en_US
utslib.location.activity	Brunei Darussalam	en_US
utslib.for	120299 Building not elsewhere classified	en_US
dc.location.activity	Brunei Darussalam
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/e-Press
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building/School of Built Environment
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.finish-date	2012-07-10	en_US
pubs.place-of-publication	Brunei Darussalam	en_US
pubs.start-date	2012-07-07	en_US

Abstract:

Undergraduate education in Quantity Surveying (QS) and Construction Management (CM) in Australia has traditionally incorporated concurrent industry experience as an important requisite prior to graduation. This has been primarily driven by accrediting professional associations but most universities have also recognized the value of this cooperative approach to education with industry. However, in recent years many universities have become concerned about the amount of time that students are spending in industry employment to the point where, for some students, their employment takes precedence over their academic studies. Past research has shown that working long hours has a negative effect on the study patterns of undergraduate students. This paper presents the results of research undertaken to examine the amount of time that Quantity Surveying and Construction Management students actually spend engaged in paid work during semester time and the impact on their studies. The methodology for the research was based on two separate questionnaire surveys distributed to undergraduate Quantity Surveying and Construction Management students at 7 universities across Australia. The questionnaires focused on the nature and extent of their paid work while enrolled in full-time study. The results indicate that students in the early stages of their program tend to undertake casual work that is not related to their degree but move to construction industry employment in the later stages of their program. The research found that students were spending an average of 18 hours per week in industry employment with this average increasing to over 23 hours in their final year. A number of students were spending well over 30 hours per week in industry employment. The implications of the extent of this concurrent industry employment are discussed.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/31302