2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Access to housing is a basic need and is key to protection and well-being. Natural disasters cause damage and destruction in all communities, but particularly in low-income communities, which often live in informal settlements and are highly vulnerable due to social, economic, and physical inequities. Additionally, these communities frequently experience delayed disaster recovery. As a result, they informally rebuild their homes using their own resources and methods as a means to recover. This study aims to address these issues by investigating how these individuals and underserved communities can be educated and trained in construction trades to aid in more resilient post-disaster reconstruction while fostering social mobility and job equity. To achieve these goals, this study conducted a comprehensive literature review and surveyed 108 engineering and construction management students from one of the largest minority-serving institutions (MSI) in the United States to (1) investigate the main challenges, impacts, and common failures of informal construction; (2) identify gaps in construction trade knowledge among low-income individuals and underserved communities; and (3) evaluate the most effective teaching methods and instructional tools to effectively teach trade skills and basic construction knowledge. Civil engineering and construction students from the MSI, who often come from vulnerable communities, provide valuable insights related to the challenges of informal construction and the gaps in trade and construction knowledge. The findings of this study highlight the importance of educating and training low-income individuals and members of underserved communities in safe and effective construction methods to aid in more resilient post-disaster reconstruction while fostering social mobility. Furthermore, these results underscore the potential of construction trade programs (CTPs) that focus on workforce development to teach these individuals. The findings of this study benefit low-income individuals and communities by enabling them to rebuild more resiliently post-disaster, while fostering social mobility and providing job opportunities for the underrepresented workforce through education. Additionally, the findings benefit the construction industry by providing a diverse and skilled workforce, helping address the critical shortage of workers.