‘We don’t sing the chorus when the folksinger’s here’: the learning society and health care

This paper reports on a study carried out as part of the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC’s) Learning Society research programme. The study focused on continuing education and training (CET) in Scotland and covered four sectors, of which one was health care. The paper reports on qualitative evidence gathered from focus groups and individual interviews. It deals with three key issues: initial education and the implications for continuing education and training; markets, investment and the returns to CET; and cultural factors. The paper concludes with some key implications.