The effect of job shadowing on recruiting students to academic programs in property management

Abstract

There is a growing talent shortage among property management professionals, and the Residential Property Management (RPM) program at Ball State University is helping fill this void. RPM students are in high demand, and often receive multiple job offers even before graduation. However, student enrollment in the 20-year history of the RPM Program has been lower than desired. The RPM Program must find a sustainable way to recruit students to its program to continue to fill the growing number of openings in the property management profession.In the FCPM 235 Introduction to Residential Property Management course, students are required to complete a job shadowing assignment with a property management professional. In this study, the researcher examined the effect of the job shadowing assignment on students' decision to declare one of the RPM academic program options.The researcher created a survey consisting of multiple-choice and open-ended questions that was sent via email to 226 students enrolled in the FCPM 235 course from Fall of 2016 to iii Fall of 2018. Only a small number of students responded (n=32; 14.16%). The data was collected, and descriptive analysis was completed.The study showed that job shadowing was not the direct reason students declared one of the RPM Program options. However, the students' affiliation with the RPM Program increased after taking FCPM 235 Introduction to Residential Property Management, with many of them (n=27) declaring one of the RPM Program options. This information will be valuable as the RPM Program continues to recruit students to their academic programs, and to the property management profession that is seeking to increase its talent pool. v

Job Shadowing as a Method in Further Education

“…It combines traditional and innovative strategies for career and professional advancement. This helps motivate self-confidence and make professional growth and networks wisley (Harrington & Earhart, 2020).…”

Improve Female Participation in Construction Using Storytelling

“…Several types of practices have been done to expose students to STEM contexts, including mentoring and role modeling programs (Herrmann et al, 2016;Ilumoka, 2012;Ilumoka et al, 2017), workshops (Ilumoka, 2012;Safapour & Kermanshachi, 2020), job shadowing (Harrington & Earhart, 2020;Ilumoka, 2012), and camps for prospective students (Ilumoka, 2012;Lee et al, 2015;Lee & Walker, 2014). Most of these practices enable a connection between students and practitioners in the field and present role models for students.…”