Personality Types of Master of Science in Project Management Students: A Field Study

In this research study, students enrolled in a university Master of Science in Project Management degree program were asked to respond to the Big Five personality inventory to ascertain whether their personality traits were in alignment with Big Five Leadership profile proposed by Lussier and Achua (2013) or were ranked similarly with the general population. Additionally, this study sought to explore whether university project management master degree students’ Big Five personalities were aligned with the suggested Big Five profile for project managers. The ranking of the Big Five leadership categories of 172 project management students was compared to rankings in previous studies. It was observed that the Big Five rankings of project management students differed in order from both the Lussier and Achua (2013) leadership profile as well as multiple studies conducted within the general population. However, the project management student rankings were consistent with recommended rankings for project managers. The findings can contribute to better understanding the traits that characterize students studying in the project management field of occupation