ABSTRACT
Summary: It is indefensible to train students exclusively for vocation when only a small proportion of life is spent in paid employment. ‘Vocationalism’ has its roots in the Protestant work ethic, and is reinforced by arguments that the financial sponsors of education (industry, the government and society) have the right to determine students’ curricula. Such arguments are questioned, and the implications are explored for education which is not exclusively vocationalist. In particular, it is claimed that higher education needs a more flexible structure, particularly with regard to entry requirements and to part-time modes of study, if it is to become a continuing process rather than a once-and-for-all ‘initiation’.
