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Student Competitions Boost Grades, Salaries, Study Finds
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Students like these from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln who competed in the Residential Construction Management Competiton at IBS in January can expect to start their constructon careers with higher salaries than students who don't compete, according to a study at Colorado State University. |
 Undergraduates studying construction management who participate in competitions — such as the NAHB Student Chapter Residential Construction Management Competition held annually at the International Builders’ Show — average higher starting salaries and grade point averages (GPAs) than their counterparts who don’t enter construction competitions, according to a pilot study at Colorado State University.
The study, conducted by Colorado State PhD candidate Ben Bigelow, found that construction management students at the university who were involved in residential construction competitions averaged starting salaries and GPAs that were $3,500 and 0.3 higher, respectively, than students who did not compete. Bigelow is pursuing an interdisciplinary doctorate in education and construction management.
Mostafa Khattab, head of the Colorado State's department of construction management, said that construction management competitions were beneficial to students because they provide the students with a holistic education and "give them the opportunity to apply the knowledge gained in the classroom to solve real world problems in the workplace.”
Bigelow was recently awarded a $4,294 grant from the National Housing Endowment to expand the study and test his findings nationally.
“Since my first exposure to the competition, I've been amazed at the benefits it has for participants educationally and in their careers,” said Bigelow, who has competed in residential construction competitions as well as recruited and coached teams.
“I'm excited about the grant because it will enable me to look further into the subject and gather data from around the country,” Bigelow said. “We will now be able to find out if students nationally are experiencing the same benefits from the construction competitions.”
Bigelow will extend his study to include students at eight schools that have received endowment Homebuilding Education Leadership Program (HELP) grants and participate in similar residential construction competitions. The HELP program awards seed funding to colleges and universities to help them create, expand or enhance existing residential construction management programs or develop new programs in the area.
“The results of this research will be beneficial to students, university construction management programs and the future of the construction industry,” Khattab said.
“The National Housing Endowment is proud to support this work that will formally measure the value of participating in home building industry-related competitions,” said Gary Garczynski, endowment chairman and 2002 NAHB president. “Through grants such as this, the endowment works to help the residential construction industry develop more effective approaches to home building and to ensure there is an ample and well-trained supply of future workers and leaders.”
Bigelow expects to begin the study this summer and complete it in about a year. He will submit the results to the NAHB Student Chapters Advisory Committee as well as to construction management academic journals.
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