2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Construction Trade Schools Employers Perceptions: Past and Present

Presented at Construction Engineering Division: Career Preparation

To assess the perceptions of CTE High School students’, extensive literature review was performed on the history of vocational and CTE education and how the perception has changed over time. Analysis was performed into the sources of funding for CTE programs to gauge governmental influence into the programs in the United States along with a measure of public perception of the programs. Additionally, resources from the US (United States) Department of Education Data were used to research the surveyed performance data of CTE focused students on job placement, continuing education rates, graduation rates, etc. Incorporation with the review of the history of CTE education in the United States and the performance of CTE students, a survey was developed for professionals in the construction industry to gauge the opinions of various positions in construction and if they believe CTE education is beneficial for a career in the construction management. The industry survey was administered through the professional network of the survey administrators. Because of the vast reach of connections, it was concluded that the authors would conduct the survey online through an email from the organizations. The online survey was designed on Qualtrics with numerous sections, including multiple-choice, short-answer, and Likert scale questions. The survey was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Roger Williams University and pilot tested with faculty and students. The survey was distributed to construction professionals using the Qualtrics anonymous survey link. All results were stored anonymously on the Qualtrics server before downloading it as a spreadsheet format for analysis. MS Excel and SPSS were utilized to complete descriptive and stochastic data analysis.

Authors

Mr. Jonathan Robert Gomes Roger Williams University [biography]

Jonathan Gomes is a Lecturer at Roger Williams University in Bristol RI. His background is in Heavy Civil and Infrastructure construction primarily focused in the Rhode Island area. Research interests are focused in employability, career and technical education, and utility as-builts
Dr. Amine Ghanem Roger Williams University [biography]

Amine Ghanem joined the SECCM faculty in Spring of 2013 as an Associate Professor after serving 5.5 years as a faculty member and construction management program coordinator at California State University, Northridge. He earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Florida State University in 2007. He earned his M.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Oklahoma State University in 2002 and his B.E. degree in Civil Engineering from Beirut Arab University in Lebanon.

Previous to joining the academic life, Dr. Ghanem was highly involved in Civil/Construction Management projects performing design, estimate, and schedule of Pre-Engineered Steel Buildings. In addition to the mentioned duties, Dr. Ghanem was assisting in creation of project proposals by securing project specifications from clients and communicating the same to design teams, and he was acting as a liaison with client during proposal/quotation stage until projects were awarded.

Dr. Ghanem's current research interests focus on alternative project delivery methods for public infrastructure projects investigating Public-Private Partnerships (P3) models that are available in other countries and how it can impact the existing practice in the United States.

Since joining Roger Williams University, Dr. Ghanem focused his interest on creating, developing and reshaping new and existing heavy civil courses as a result of the increasing students’ and industry demands. Dr. Ghanem is the recipient of many teaching and education awards. The award list includes receiving the Regional and International Outstanding Educator awards, the Excellence in Teaching award, and the National Teaching Award, all awarded by the Associated Schools of Construction. He was also awarded the Outstanding Engineering Merit Achievement Awards, by the Engineers’ Council of San Fernando Valley, California.
Christina Marra Roger Williams University
Gabriella Elisabeth Cruz Roger Williams University

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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