Passions & Pathways is targeted at students in years 5 and 6, providing early exposure to real workplaces, role models and a range of career options through hands-on experiences with local businesses. Having run across 14 schools in the Greater Bendigo, Mount Alexander and Central Goldfields regions until 2024, the program is to operate in six schools in Greater Bendigo in 2025 once further funding has been secured.
Commissioned by Goldfields Local Learning & Employment Network (Goldfields LLEN), the evaluation found Passions & Pathways is more than just a careers program. Data was compiled across a 13-year period, which included times of societal shifts such as COVID-19, with 1800 students and 100 teachers involved since its inception.
More than 80 per cent of student participants said the program deepened their understanding of what different careers require, effectively planting seeds of possibility beyond gendered norms.
“Before I went to a workplace, I didn’t know how many jobs it actually takes to run a business,” one student said.
Dr Kristina Turner, who co-led the evaluation with Dr Ana Garcia Melgar in La Trobe’s School of Education, said the program actively expanded how students, particularly in regional and socio-economically challenged communities, thought about the future and who they could become.
“Research tells us that by the age of five, children already begin to associate certain jobs with specific genders based heavily on what they see at home, in the media and society. This program intervenes before these stereotypes can harden into limitations,” Dr Turner said.
More than 70 per cent of students reported increased excitement about careers they had previously not considered.
“I wasn’t really sure what a uni was, but playing in the nursing classroom was fun and it was something I might like to do when I am older,” one student said.
Other students learned that “working can be fun” and “to be excited about the future”.
The report also highlighted the program’s impact on teachers, with 88 per cent feeling more confident integrating career-focused education into the curriculum.
One teacher said: “it was nice to plant a seed of possibility and to get the students thinking about whether they might enjoy this type of work.”
Another teacher noted the program “provided a much-needed injection of aspiration” into their student cohort.
Of the 120 businesses involved in the program, 77 per cent valued the opportunity to foster connections between schools and potential employers.
One participating business said, “students brought energy and enthusiasm into our workplace”, reminding staff “what we love about our industry”.
Others welcomed the opportunity of hosting the students in their later years of schooling during work experience.
Although many students expressed enthusiasm and interest in exploring different career paths, only 69 per cent felt confident in navigating their education and training pathways.
Dave Burton, Executive Officer at Goldfields LLEN, said career education must start early and extending the initiative into secondary schools would sustain momentum.
"This gap points to a critical opportunity: supporting development in students’ skills in goal setting, planning and decision-making to help them translate aspiration into action,” Mr Burton said.
“Strengthening these competencies, particularly in regional and rural communities, will ensure that the early gains made in challenging stereotypes are sustained through the crucial transition into secondary school and beyond.
“By empowering students to see beyond the stereotypes they’ve absorbed by age five, Passions & Pathways is not just preparing students for the workforce – it's reshaping it.”
PHOTO: Dr Kristina Turner (La Trobe), Dave Burton (Goldfields LLEN), with former Passions & Pathways participants Jiana Woodman, Leira Woodman and Brooklyn Evans, and Marg O'Rourke (La Trobe).
Media Contacts
La Trobe: Jess Whitty - j.whitty@latrobe.edu.au, 0481 383 817
Goldfields LLEN: Dave Burton - dave.b@gllen.org.au, 0433 734 385
