2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The persistent underrepresentation of youth pursuing construction careers underscores the need for early, experiential learning interventions that cultivate career awareness, confidence, and a sense of belonging in construction career pathways. Despite the critical demand for a skilled and diverse construction workforce, pre-college students often have limited exposure to the construction industry, lack accurate knowledge of educational routes into construction management, and hold misconceptions about the nature of construction field. Therefore, the academia-industry collaborative construction management summer academy was designed and implemented to engage pre-college students early in construction education and bridge the current gaps between engineering education and industry needs.
The university faculty and industry partners collaboratively designed and developed the construction management summer academy to foster pre-college students’ career interests in construction management and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The program integrated technical lectures, project-based learning, hands-on activities, and site visits to active construction projects, providing students with authentic exposure to professional practices. A mixed-methods evaluation was conducted to assess pre- and post-academy changes across four domains: (1) career interests, (2) technical knowledge and awareness, (3) confidence and self-efficacy, and (4) engagement and communication.
Results demonstrate significant gains in students' knowledge of construction management college programs, along with improved teamwork and communication skills. Career interests toward construction management and STEM showed positive increases after the summer academy among student participants. These findings indicate that the academia-industry collaborative construction summer academy effectively enhanced students’ awareness of postsecondary education opportunities and improved technical knowledge, teamwork, and communication skills through hands-on, industry-collaborative learning experiences. Engagement with construction professionals and visits to local construction sites enhanced students’ engagement, communication, and interest in construction careers by connecting academic learning with real-world professional practice. The findings of this research suggest that future program development would benefit from extended program duration and the integration of sustained mentorship and structured reflection to support deeper technical confidence, strengthened long-term self-efficacy, and sustained engineering career interest development among pre-college students.