Interdisciplinary postgraduate education for construction managers

This paper examines the role of the postgraduate master of science in construction management/project management as a means of promoting interdisciplinary education and training for professionals from the construction and development industries with emphasis on mature students. While any program that accepts students from such a diverse set of professional and academic backgrounds is likely to suffer from some problems, once these have been overcome, this type of postgraduate education has proved capable of overcoming the 'tunnel vision' of many managers engendered by the narrow and highly specialized undergraduate professional education in the United Kingdom. Integrative collaborative project work is suggested as a means of facilitating the broadening processes and also to promote the pooling of knowledge and experience from within the student group. The paper also argues for the development of credit transfer and flexible modes of study-full-time, part-time, and distance learning-which are appropriate to needs of the midcareer manager.