Implicit in the human capital approach of 20th-century educational rhetoric in Australia was the belief that schools imparted vocationally useful cognitive skills beyond basic literacy and numeracy. These skills were believed to be transferable to the workplace and to increase the productivity of the individual to the benefit of society. For girls, the vocational preparation was more vocationally specific and trained them in skills transferable immediately to the work force. Girls were encouraged to make curriculum choices within the limited number of occupational positions and societal roles regarded as suitable for women. Job-specific training was complementary to the overall ideology of domesticity by providing skills for short-term employment prior to marriage. Development of commercial education in the state system opened up clerical work to the increasing number of youth staying on at school. The rapid expansion of secondary education facilitated the upward social mobility of the middle class. Young workers also benefitted from the salary rises and increased opportunities for advancement in what was considered higher status white-collar work. (YLB)