ABSTRACT
The international electrical contracting industry recognizes that one of its most daunting challenges of the 21st century will be finding a qualified pool of future project managers. Historically, electrical contractors have promoted project managers from within their ranks—selecting, promoting and training their most qualified field foremen. A dearth of qualified field supervisors to fill this role makes this untenable any longer.
A study funded by the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA)—a U.S. based organization of nearly 3000 electrical contractors, with international associations worldwide, found that 96% of contractor respondents felt that university programs specifically developed to instruct undergraduates in electrical construction management are needed. Traditional construction management curricula have focused upon instruction from the perspectives of the owner, general contractor, or construction manager while neglecting the perspective of specialty contractors. The electrical contracting industry sends a strong message, herein, that there ought to be specialized curricula designed to thoroughly instruct undergraduates in the topics of electrical materials & methods, electrical estimating, electrical project management, design/build for electrical contractors, and at least one technical elective. The challenge for international universities is to develop curricula which meet these industry needs.
