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Workforce Development and Education in the Construction Industry: Challenges and...
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Workforce Development and Education in the Construction Industry: Challenges and Strategies—2nd Edition

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction Management, and Computers & Digitization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2026 | Viewed by 1274

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Manideep Tummalapudi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Construction Management, California State University, Fresno, CA, USA
Interests: construction workforce development; construction education; emerging technologies in construction; construction finance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Christofer Harper

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Construction Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Interests: construction workforce; relational contracting; project delivery; integrated project teams; emerging technologies; construction inspection; construction education
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The success of the construction industry relies on the support of a large and competent workforce. However, across the world, this industry is facing historic shortages of skilled workers, negatively impacting productivity. A research report in the US indicates that 35% of the current construction industry workforce will retire before 2032, and it is extremely important for policy makers, academics, and researchers to investigate the related challenges and develop programs and strategies to address these issues. This is also true in other developed and developing nations. Additionally, it is increasingly becoming difficult to attract, recruit, and retain younger employees due to their negative perceptions of the industry. This Special Issue focuses on challenges and strategies for workforce development in construction, such as an aging workforce; recruitment and retention; skill shortages; workplace training; workforce training for emerging technologies; immigration issues for the construction workforce; workforce development programs; competencies and KSAs for construction workforce training and development; organizational and workplace programs for effective workforce development; the diversity, equity, and inclusion of under-represented and minority groups; the role of technology in workforce development; and the training needed to use technologies in the field.

Dr. Manideep Tummalapudi
Dr. Christofer Harper
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • construction workforce development
  • workforce training
  • immigration in construction
  • recruitment and retention
  • technologies for workforce development
  • construction skill shortages
  • diversity, equity, and inclusion in the construction workforce

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 751 KB  
Article
A BIM Competency Framework for Hybrid AEC Education in Sub-Saharan Africa
by Olushola Akinshipe and Clinton Aigbavboa
Buildings 2026, 16(9), 1723; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16091723 - 27 Apr 2026
Viewed by 341
Abstract
This study examines how hybrid AEC education can foster BIM-enabled construction workflow competencies in Sub-Saharan Africa, where digital limitations impact graduate readiness. A quantitative survey of 120 students and graduates yielded 81 valid responses (68% response rate). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics [...] Read more.
This study examines how hybrid AEC education can foster BIM-enabled construction workflow competencies in Sub-Saharan Africa, where digital limitations impact graduate readiness. A quantitative survey of 120 students and graduates yielded 81 valid responses (68% response rate). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Principal Component Analysis (KMO = 0.943; Bartlett’s test p < 0.001), revealing components that explained 77.65% of the variance. Respondents strongly supported hybrid learning, emphasising the importance of digital collaboration, curriculum reform, and equitable access to technology. However, institutional barriers such as limited digital readiness and inadequate BIM workflow training were also identified. These findings informed a competency-based framework linking hybrid delivery, digital infrastructure, curriculum modernisation, and learner capabilities to improved workflow proficiency. The study suggests that hybrid AEC education can help close digital skills gaps if supported by staff upskilling, accessible software, and workflow-focused pedagogy. Future work should validate the framework across contexts and track long-term learning outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Workforce Development and Education in the Construction Industry: Challenges and Strategies—2nd Edition)
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22 pages, 2155 KB  
Article
Pathways to Leadership in the Australian Construction Industry: A Comparative Social Network Analysis Using LinkedIn Profiles
by Diya Yan, Yi Ding, Cynthia Changxin Wang, Riza Yosia Sunindijo and Zhengyi Yang
Buildings 2026, 16(4), 727; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16040727 - 11 Feb 2026
Viewed by 463
Abstract
Despite ongoing efforts to promote gender equity in the construction industry, women remain underrepresented at senior leadership levels. Prior studies have attempted to investigate women’s professional networks in construction through traditional survey- or interview-based approaches, which are often limited in scale and unable [...] Read more.
Despite ongoing efforts to promote gender equity in the construction industry, women remain underrepresented at senior leadership levels. Prior studies have attempted to investigate women’s professional networks in construction through traditional survey- or interview-based approaches, which are often limited in scale and unable to capture the complexity of career mobility patterns. This study adopts a previously underexplored data source, LinkedIn, to examine and compare the career networks of female and male top managers in the Australian construction industry. Using 914 publicly available LinkedIn profiles, social network analysis was conducted in Python using the NetworkX library to construct affiliation-based career networks derived from shared organizational experience. Multiple network metrics were applied to compare network connectivity, cohesion, community structure, core and periphery positioning, and robustness. The results show that female top managers are more densely connected, more locally cohesive, and more globally integrated than their male counterparts. Female career networks also exhibit fewer but larger communities, deeper and more cohesive core structures, and greater robustness to the removal of structurally important individuals. These findings extend career capital theory by highlighting the gendered differences in professional networks and provide evidence-based guidance for women, organizations, and policymakers supporting equitable leadership pathways. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Workforce Development and Education in the Construction Industry: Challenges and Strategies—2nd Edition)
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