Skills development in sustainable energy transitions: A systematic map and critical review of the drivers and barriers

This paper maps the peer-reviewed literature on drivers and barriers shaping skills systems in the context of low-carbon energy transitions. We conceptualise skills development as a governance process unfolding across five interrelated dimensions: anticipation, provision, deployment, recognition, and coordination. Using a systematic mapping approach, we screened 2958 academic records and included 49 peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2024. We examine how various actor groups, those who demand, supply, govern, or enable skills, interact within skills systems, as well as how technological, economic, institutional, social, and justice-related factors enable or constrain their functioning. Our findings reveal persistent barriers in the responsiveness, equity, and coordination of skills systems for sustainable energy transitions. Despite promising initiatives, barriers such as outdated curricula, fragmented governance, underinvestment in training, and the exclusion of marginalised groups continue to undermine effective and inclusive skills development. We also explore how feedback dynamics between transition pathways and skills governance can either reinforce virtuous cycles of innovation or entrench systemic lock-ins. Conceptually, the paper advances a governance-based synthesis that redefines skills systems as both responding to and actively shaping the dynamics of energy transitions. We propose five implications for skills research: from instrumental to transformative skills, formal to informal formation, individual to collective deployment, isolated to coordinated governance, and narrow to justice-oriented framings. These insights inform a broader research and policy agenda aimed at embedding inclusion, adaptability, and systemic coordination into the governance of skills for just and effective energy transitions. • A systematic mapping identifies key drivers and barriers shaping skills development in energy transitions. • Much-emphasised barriers in the literature include unequal access, outdated curricula, and weak coordination. • Technological change outpaces training systems, causing persistent skill gaps. • Economic and social inequalities limit who benefits from upskilling opportunities. • Inclusive, forward-looking, and context-specific approaches are key to enabling just transitions.