Choosing photovoltaics installation as a job emerges as a pro-environmental behaviour in the context of low-carbon transitions' skill shortages in Germany

Abstract

Shortages of skilled workers in vocational jobs constitute critical obstacles to achieving low-carbon transitions in many countries worldwide. Despite its significance, academic research on the role of work in implementing low-carbon transitions remains limited. This study aims to advance the scientific understanding of work and occupational choice from a transition perspective and to provide insights for practice and policymaking into designing effective strategies to address skill shortages. Specifically, we explore factors influencing the decision to enter or not to enter vocational occupations in photovoltaic installation in Germany. For that, we follow a mixed-methods design combining case studies of bottom-up initiatives tackling skill shortages in installation jobs with an online survey among German adolescents. Our findings reveal that photovoltaic installation is particularly appealing to pro-environmental groups, fostering strong efficacy beliefs. They further indicate potential spill-over effects from work to other behavioural roles suggesting a unique intersection between occupational and environmental identities. We also find heightened interest in part-time work in the installation trades, particularly among women and high educated groups. However, a lack of low-threshold entry points, limited part-time opportunities, and a male-dominated industry deter broader engagement in the skilled trades, particularly among women. Since attracting currently non-engaged population segments in vocational occupations is key to growing a sufficiently large installation workforce, policymaking and practice need to act on these barriers, providing more points of contact with the skilled trades, promoting safe spaces and low-threshold opportunities to try out practical craftwork, particularly for women, and developing more flexible labour conditions. Our results further indicate opportunities to broaden popular support for low-carbon transitions by increasing the social recognition of the skilled trades’ crucial role in implementing low-carbon transitions. Work and occupational choice emerge as key components of low-carbon transitions and environmental behaviour highlighting the need for further research across academic communities. © 2024 The Authors

Keywords

Author Keywords

Not provided

Index Keywords

Academic research Apprentices Mixed method policy making Skill shortage Carbon capture Carbon capture and storage Carbon cycle Carbon sequestration Zero-carbon Low thresholds Low-carbon transitions Occupational choice Photovoltaic installation Pro-environmental behaviors Skilled workers Carbon capture and utilization

Author Affiliations

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Bayern, Germany

Institut für Landschaftsarchitektur und Umweltplanung, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, Berlin, Germany

Institut für Landschaftsarchitektur und Umweltplanung, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, Berlin, Germany, University of Sussex Business School, Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom

Institut für Soziologie, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, United States

Funding & Acknowledgements

Heinrich Böll Stiftung

Funding text 1: We thank Larissa Ziegler, Philipp George, and Johanna Hauke for their support in developing and implementing the Solarcamp surveys as well as all other local organisers and the federal organisation board of the Solarcamps for diffusing the surveys. We thank Linda Ghirardello, Jonas Ludwig, and Aneeque Javaid for their methodological advice. We acknowledge PhD and student scholarships for Simon Wehden and Myriam Aichinger funded by the Heinrich B\u00F6ll Foundation and further funding for the youth survey from Einstein Center Climate Change.; Funding text 2: 10.000 Tage (English: 10,000 days) is an open social innovation project seeking to build multi-actor alliances for projects tackling the shortage of skilled workers in climate jobs (10.000 Tage, 2023 ). It was initiated in July 2023 by the NGO Project Together and supported by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). During our research, we participated as non-participant observers with interaction ( Bryman, 2012 , p. 444) in one in-person and two online events organised between July and October 2023 for the involved initiatives to facilitate alliance-building. These observations together with information available from the project website sensitised us to the emergence of environmentally motivated bottom-up initiatives tackling the skill shortage in implementation jobs (SolarStudi and Solarcamps for Future, cases two and three). We further conducted semi-structured interviews with one of the initiators, a Project Together executive, and a leading activist from Fridays For Future who was involved in 10,000 Tage and Solarcamps for Future.; Funding text 3: We thank Larissa Ziegler, Philipp George, and Johanna Hauke for their support in developing and implementing the Solarcamp surveys as well as all other local organisers and the federal organisation board of the Solarcamps for diffusing the surveys. We thank Linda Ghirardello, Jonas Ludwig, and Aneeque Javaid for their methodological advice. We acknowledge PhD and student scholarships funded by the Heinrich B\u00F6ll Foundation and further funding for the youth survey from TU Berlin.

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF

Funding text 1: We thank Larissa Ziegler, Philipp George, and Johanna Hauke for their support in developing and implementing the Solarcamp surveys as well as all other local organisers and the federal organisation board of the Solarcamps for diffusing the surveys. We thank Linda Ghirardello, Jonas Ludwig, and Aneeque Javaid for their methodological advice. We acknowledge PhD and student scholarships for Simon Wehden and Myriam Aichinger funded by the Heinrich B\u00F6ll Foundation and further funding for the youth survey from Einstein Center Climate Change.; Funding text 2: 10.000 Tage (English: 10,000 days) is an open social innovation project seeking to build multi-actor alliances for projects tackling the shortage of skilled workers in climate jobs (10.000 Tage, 2023 ). It was initiated in July 2023 by the NGO Project Together and supported by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). During our research, we participated as non-participant observers with interaction ( Bryman, 2012 , p. 444) in one in-person and two online events organised between July and October 2023 for the involved initiatives to facilitate alliance-building. These observations together with information available from the project website sensitised us to the emergence of environmentally motivated bottom-up initiatives tackling the skill shortage in implementation jobs (SolarStudi and Solarcamps for Future, cases two and three). We further conducted semi-structured interviews with one of the initiators, a Project Together executive, and a leading activist from Fridays For Future who was involved in 10,000 Tage and Solarcamps for Future.; Funding text 3: We thank Larissa Ziegler, Philipp George, and Johanna Hauke for their support in developing and implementing the Solarcamp surveys as well as all other local organisers and the federal organisation board of the Solarcamps for diffusing the surveys. We thank Linda Ghirardello, Jonas Ludwig, and Aneeque Javaid for their methodological advice. We acknowledge PhD and student scholarships funded by the Heinrich B\u00F6ll Foundation and further funding for the youth survey from TU Berlin.

Technische Universität Berlin

Funding text 1: We thank Larissa Ziegler, Philipp George, and Johanna Hauke for their support in developing and implementing the Solarcamp surveys as well as all other local organisers and the federal organisation board of the Solarcamps for diffusing the surveys. We thank Linda Ghirardello, Jonas Ludwig, and Aneeque Javaid for their methodological advice. We acknowledge PhD and student scholarships for Simon Wehden and Myriam Aichinger funded by the Heinrich B\u00F6ll Foundation and further funding for the youth survey from Einstein Center Climate Change.; Funding text 2: 10.000 Tage (English: 10,000 days) is an open social innovation project seeking to build multi-actor alliances for projects tackling the shortage of skilled workers in climate jobs (10.000 Tage, 2023 ). It was initiated in July 2023 by the NGO Project Together and supported by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). During our research, we participated as non-participant observers with interaction ( Bryman, 2012 , p. 444) in one in-person and two online events organised between July and October 2023 for the involved initiatives to facilitate alliance-building. These observations together with information available from the project website sensitised us to the emergence of environmentally motivated bottom-up initiatives tackling the skill shortage in implementation jobs (SolarStudi and Solarcamps for Future, cases two and three). We further conducted semi-structured interviews with one of the initiators, a Project Together executive, and a leading activist from Fridays For Future who was involved in 10,000 Tage and Solarcamps for Future.; Funding text 3: We thank Larissa Ziegler, Philipp George, and Johanna Hauke for their support in developing and implementing the Solarcamp surveys as well as all other local organisers and the federal organisation board of the Solarcamps for diffusing the surveys. We thank Linda Ghirardello, Jonas Ludwig, and Aneeque Javaid for their methodological advice. We acknowledge PhD and student scholarships funded by the Heinrich B\u00F6ll Foundation and further funding for the youth survey from TU Berlin.

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Choosing photovoltaics installation as a job emerges as a pro-environmental behaviour in the context of low-carbon transitions' skill shortages in Germany

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