State of university-industry collaboration in quantity surveying profession in Nigeria

Abstract

PurposeUniversity-industry collaboration (UIC) is a symbiosis relationship, brought about through knowledge and resource sharing, with the attendant benefits of innovation and technological advancement. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the state of UIC in quantity surveying profession in Nigeria with a view to ascertaining the situation and chatting the way forward.Design/methodology/approachUsing quantitative survey research approach, primary data were collected through the administration of structured questionnaires on quantity surveying academia and practitioners. A total of 126 respondents were sampled: 52 university lecturers and 74 quantity surveying firms. Of these, 32 university lecturers (61.54%) and 34 quantity surveying firms (45.95%) provided valid responses. In all, this amounts to 52.38% response rate. The quantitative data obtained were analysed using mean score, frequency distribution, percentage and Mann Whitney test.FindingsThe findings show that collaboration is very strong in the areas of student industrial placement and research cooperation between students and academic researchers. However, collaboration in the areas of funding and staff exchange was found to be lagging behind.Practical implicationsThe findings indicate strong collaboration areas (student industrial placement and research cooperation) to be sustained as well as weak areas (funding and staff exchange) to be critically looked into.Originality/valueThe paper represents the first research to empirically assess the state of UIC in quantity surveying profession in Nigeria. In addition, it shows the areas where efforts should be concentrated in maximizing the benefit of UIC.