Director of Practice Helen Taylor recently participated in a RICS World Built Environment Forum webinar to discuss ‘The construction education skills gap: Training the next generation’.

Moderated by Tim Ibell, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at University of Bath, the expert panel explored the role universities and colleges should play in preparing the next generation of construction professionals, and whether the higher education system has got the balance between academic and practical skills right.

Discussing what key skills the industry needs for its new graduates right now, Helen said:

“It’s about behaviour and attitude, as much as it is about having the right skills. People who come in with a really positive, proactive attitude and a willingness to learn, be flexible, to develop and be self-motivated are the people we find do well in the practice. Alongside the ability to present and communicate an idea, more and more it comes down to some very specific software skills – the industry standard is becoming Revit now. So graduates who are coming out with any Revit skills, even if very basic, are going to give themselves a bit of an advantage. But also we want new ideas from graduates as well, who come in with new software and skills that can make us [as a practice] even better. We can learn from what the graduates are doing as well.”

To find out what the panellists thought about what we should really be teaching in architecture schools, and more about their thoughts on the skills/competency gap, watch the webinar in full here.