Exploring knowledge areas offered in project management programs in construction

Construction project management requires various knowledge, skills, techniques, and applications. Therefore, project management (PM) degree programs have to equip future project engineers and managers accordingly. However, literature has provided limited understanding about how extensive these knowledge areas (KAs) have been offered in these degree programs. The goal of this paper is to explore to what extent different KAs are taught in PM Master’s degree programs with emphasis in the construction industry. A survey was conducted with respondents who were academic staff responsible for these programs. Most of these programs under the current study were at institutions located in the U.K. and the U.S.A. Six KAs that had high percentage (50% or more) of construction programs offering more than ten teaching hours were time management and risk management (65%), procurement management, sustainability, and legal and ethical aspects (55%), and cost management (50%). In terms of relative teaching priority within a program, time management, risk management, sustainability, and cost management were frequently the top focus in these programs. Project scope, quality, and stakeholder management had the least teaching priorities among the PM KAs. While relative teaching priorities of many KAs were anticipated, the lowest teaching hours and priorities of project scope and quality management, and occupational safety and health were not expected as they were identified as major competencies for construction graduates.