Stereotypes are expected to be smashed, and career ambitions raised at a special expo for about 200 young Sunshine Coast school students on Friday 1 December.

USC will host the Explore Pathways Expo for Year 5 students at its Sippy Downs campus from 9am to 12.30pm.

USC’s Widening Participation Project Officer Annie Colless said while the world was changing rapidly with the arrival of new technologies, research showed that outdated gender stereotypes were still limiting children’s career aspirations.

“There is also a general lack of information about career pathways for primary school children, even though this is a time when many students start forming firm ideas about their future,” she said.

“The Explore Pathways Expo will enable young students to find out about a diverse range of jobs, including those they may not have previously considered, through fun, interactive career exhibits.”

Exhibitors from USC, TAFE and community organisations will showcase a number of careers, including paramedicine, nursing, science, technology, creative design, music production, law and outdoor education.

Maya, one of USC’s detection dogs for conservation, will make a guest appearance to allow students to learn about the innovative use of dogs for environmental work, such as detecting threatened wildlife.

The expo is part of a suite of USC programs for primary and secondary school children, funded through the Federal Government’s Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program, to build aspirations to go on to higher education.

— Clare McKay