The construction industry is evolving faster than traditional education systems can keep pace with. Today’s projects are driven by BIM-led collaboration, compressed timelines, real-time coordination, and complex stakeholder ecosystems. Yet, many architecture and engineering graduates enter the workforce without a clear understanding of how modern construction projects actually operate.
In a recent episode of Digital Dialogues, Roy Aniruddha, Co-founder and Chairman of Technostruct Academy, offered a candid perspective on why this gap persists—and what must change to prepare students for real-world, global construction environments.
The Education–Industry Disconnect
One of the most fundamental challenges, according to Roy, lies in the four-year academic curriculum revision cycle followed by most universities. In an industry where digital tools, workflows, and delivery models evolve every few months, a curriculum updated once every four years is structurally misaligned with reality. Post-COVID, digital transformation in construction accelerated sharply, making this lag even more pronounced.
However, the issue runs deeper than curriculum timelines. Education remains discipline-centric and siloed—architects are trained in isolation, civil engineers in another silo, and MEP disciplines rarely intersect during learning. In contrast, live construction projects succeed or fail based on cross-disciplinary collaboration. On-site and virtual coordination between architects, structural engineers, MEP teams, contractors, and owners is continuous, not optional.
Because students rarely experience this interdisciplinary “collision space” during education, they struggle when placed into real projects where collaboration, negotiation, and coordinated decision-making are daily requirements—not academic concepts.
Traditional pedagogy also continues to prioritize drawings and theoretical mastery. While foundational theory is essential, Roy points out that theory without application does not translate into project readiness. In the industry, drawings are only one output; decisions, coordination, sequencing, and execution are what truly matter.
Experiential Learning: Understanding Consequences, Not Just Concepts
A critical gap emerges when students encounter live projects for the first time: they understand concepts but not consequences.
For instance, graduates may learn about “clashes” in theory—such as a duct intersecting with a structural beam—but they often fail to grasp what a clash actually triggers on a real project. In practice, a single clash can result in:
- Multi-stakeholder coordination meetings involving architects, engineers, contractors, and subcontractors
- Redesign cycles, recalculations, and revised drawings
- Site delays where labor and equipment remain idle
- Schedule overruns that cascade into financial penalties
On large infrastructure projects like airports, these issues can translate into losses running into several lakh rupees per clash, and cumulatively account for 15–20% of project cost leakage, as cited by national studies.
This lack of exposure exists because academic environments rarely simulate real project pressure. Students are not trained under fixed deadlines, coordination accountability, or cost-driven decision-making. They do not experience what it means to stay up late resolving issues before an 8 a.m. coordination meeting—or to negotiate solutions without escalating conflicts.
As a result, employers are forced to absorb a six-month productivity ramp-up period, retraining graduates on skills that should have been developed during education. This widening job-readiness gap explains why companies seek “1–3 years of experience” even for entry-level roles—despite an abundance of fresh graduates.
Shifting the Mindset: From Tools to Thinking
Roy emphasizes that one of the most urgent mindset shifts needed is moving away from tool-centric learning.
BIM and VDC are often taught as modeling or drafting exercises. In reality, they are decision-making infrastructures. These platforms are not about geometry—they are about data, workflows, and outcomes. Every model element carries information that influences cost, sequencing, operations, and long-term asset management.
Students must therefore transition from being drafters to becoming data stewards—professionals who understand why workflows matter, how information flows across stakeholders, and how decisions made today affect construction, operations, and facilities management over decades.
This shift also requires reframing collaboration as a core competency. Success is no longer measured by “I made the model,” but by “Did the model enable better and faster decisions for the team?”
Roy argues that workflow literacy is more important than feature mastery. Knowing why a sequence matters to a contractor or owner is far more valuable than knowing which button to click in a software tool.
Addressing the Global Competency Gap
Indian graduates are often perceived as technically strong, and Roy agrees—to a point. While many have a solid grasp of foundational engineering concepts, they struggle on global projects due to gaps in assertiveness, communication, standards literacy, and collaborative behavior.
International projects demand professionals who can:
- Challenge assumptions respectfully
- Articulate technical risks clearly
- Participate confidently in cross-functional coordination meetings
- Work within globally accepted standards such as ISO 19650, IFC, and COBie
However, students are rarely encouraged to ask questions, push back constructively, or prioritize team outcomes over individual performance. Education systems often reward rote learning and individual excellence, while global projects prioritize process adherence, interoperability, and collective problem-solving.
Without exposure to international standards and collaborative practices, graduates find themselves technically capable—but operationally constrained—on global platforms.
Preparing Students for Tomorrow’s Construction Industry
To bridge the education–industry divide, Roy highlights the need for a fundamental shift in how future construction professionals are trained. This includes:
- Translating theory into decision-making and execution
- Embedding cross-disciplinary collaboration into education
- Simulating real project pressure, accountability, and coordination
- Developing communication, negotiation, and problem-solving skills
- Teaching data management, workflows, and global standards literacy
As Roy concludes, “The goal is not to create people who can only draw or model, but professionals who can navigate complexity, collaborate across disciplines, and make informed decisions that drive project success—locally and globally.”
The future of construction depends not just on better tools, but on better-prepared professionals. And that preparation must begin long before graduates step onto their first live project.
