Career Choices: Being stuck in the middle amongst a herd of sheep
By Seema Patel
My son is a doctor.
My daughter is a solicitor.
Our children are doing Business Studies.
Ask any Indian parent what their offspring does for a living and I guarantee that over fifty percent of their answers will fit into the above, or similar, categories. These career paths are what most Indian parents long for their sons and daughters to walk upon, as they ensure hefty pay-cheques and a sense of ‘respectability’ amongst the Indian community. But with a natural inclination towards the Science, Law, and Business sectors of the job market, I am here to investigate why Indian children are discouraged from pursuing Humanities’ subjects, arguing that in the end our community is the one which fears and shies away from the notion of a child who strives to be different.
May 17th, 2006 at 11:31 pm
I totally agree with Seema. Thank you so much for making this point! Being a student of Modern Languages (French and Spanish), I constantly get the most shocking of reactions from people that don’t really know me when I tell them what I am studying. Just yesterday, I was introduced to an individual, and explained how stressed I was because of the forthcoming exams. He sympathised with me, until he asked me what I study, after which he reacted with a little laugh and said what a joke, what is it you learn, how to say hello in different languages, that can’t be too stressing! It actually annoys me, the ignorance of these so-called “clever” people - that they think my course is less academically challenging just because it is not the norm! When I first decided this is what I wanted to study at university, my parents were rather hesitant, but then realised it was something I really wanted to pursue, and they are true believers in letting one follow their dreams. Since then, I have constantly had their support, and I have not for one minute looked back and regretted my decision not to pursue a career in business. People constantly ask me what I want to do with this degree in the future - the answer is I don’t have a clue, and the only reason for this is there is SO much I want to do! Teach, travel, work abroad, write, journalism, the list is endless! And I like the idea that I can at any point in my life change what sort of job I have. Whereas my friends studying law, medicine, dentistry, etc - I’m sure we need not even ask them what they will be doing in 10 years time! So yes, I may be the black sheep amongst my community or my friends, but I like that, because I chose to pursue a dream, rather than something I felt I was obliged to study for the sake of society!
May 18th, 2006 at 10:23 am
Totally agree with Seema and Nishma. I myself have ended up going along a ’standard’ route, studying Mathematics at university and interning at some bank. However, even this had some opposition, since what on earth can you do with Maths? Of course the answer is anything, but job security is in our culture considered almost always more important than versatility or enjoyment in one’s career. I can see why the previous generation think so, since many have had to struggle for their children’s welfare, but change is approaching fast. Noticeably, there seems to be a growing number of Asians entering the media industry.
My blog entry covering similar grounds can be found at http://jigar.uwcs.co.uk/~jigar/wp/?p=30
May 18th, 2006 at 10:51 am
I went through something similiar and unfortunately i caved into my parents demands when i told them i wanted to study Archaeology & History over Maths and any Sciences. I never got any encouragement in these subjects from them despite achieving high marks in them (as well as having a genuine interest in them), but was always told that Maths and Science was were my future, and money, lay (even if i did hate the subjects and struggled at times with a few of them).
I have a friend who studies foreign languages who has had a year abroad, and I have to admit that im envious of her, it certainly does open up a lot more doors than most people give credit.
I’ve got a mathematics degree and although that does give me more variety in career choice than a lawyer or doctor I’d still prefer if i was an archaeologist, regardless of the money.
May 18th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
Nice article from Seema. You articulated what a lot of Hindus who dare to be different face from their community or parents.
I wanted to do nutrition, but I got ’strong armed’ intp becoming a pharmacist, which even though the pay is OK, is definately not what I REALLY want from life.
The challenge for me is figuring out a way to steer into the direction I want. I just hope I manage to do it, instead of becoming another statistic of persons who go through life unhappy with what they do.
May 19th, 2006 at 7:50 am
Aren’t we talking of Hindus? Why has anyone not taken any note of it in his life, present as well as later? I am afraid, this is the only side which is being totally discarded and blackened out of our lives, specially here in this island.
If we think, we do not need it in our active lives, what about the life after retirement; what about life hereafter which every Hindu has to believe in?
We should not forget, forgetting it and attaching it no importance obliterates our very identity. We may read anything, everything; acquire degrees on every subject and toil for all the grand things of life, but if we do not try to keep our original identity, we are lost!
A Muslim does not behave like that, nor does a Christian, Sikh or even Neo-Budhist. Why do we?
In fact, most of us do not realize - or even try to realize - that above everything, we are Hindus, children and grand children of Hindus. We may learn anything, and everything, but if we are not Hindus in our thought, belief and temperament, we are just a jumbled mass of flesh, blood and bones. We have lost everything but gained just a capability to earn a living.
May 19th, 2006 at 11:01 pm
^^^ Dr Singh, I think the question of career choice and the associated pressures is a very important question, and is bound up with the issues you raised.
If all Hindus are pressured into doing the same careers, even if they want to do soemthing totally different, it is certainly not good for peace of mind or happiness. And peace of mind and happiness are two very important concerns according to our religion. The job a person does even has a spiritual dimension, becauses it is an outward expression of a person’s inner make up, and is offered as a kind of offering to the Supreme.
The other thing is, if we as a community don’t have enough conscious Hindus in the media or in the academic world (fields which we are usually discouraged from entering in favour of more ‘reliable’ professions), we are likely to get misrepresented in a lot of cases such as in textbooks and in national media. And this in turn has a harmful effect on the way we perceive ourselves.
May 20th, 2006 at 9:26 pm
Good article on Indian sterotypes of study/carre choice.
The kinda comments that can be generated by saying i study BA Political Science, shhuu!
Anyway, when it comes to studying languages within the Humanities, maybe we as Hindus should pay more attention to SANSKRIT and our vernavulars, be it Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil or Whatever??
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:43 pm
There is no doubt that there is alot of pressure from family, friends and society to persue a career related to the sciences. But I can understand why…as they only looking out for us. Having financial security is very important and enables us to concentrate on other things in life. Without it life would be very difficult.
Having said this, being a psychology student myself, I also went against the norm. And I haven’t a clue as to what career to choose after graduation. At the moment I am actually enjoying the course! (yeh, I actually like what im learning.)
At the end of the day, having Hindus in many different sectors will only benefit Hindus themselves. Showing a wide range of abilities within the community. These stereotypes of typical careers, I think will end up disappearing as Hindus begin entering other fields.
May 23rd, 2006 at 1:14 am
I’m sorry but I have a slight (but important) disagreement to the arguement you gave in the article. Yes I agree that it is important to not go with the norm so long as you are following your heart, but to claim that you can only get Freedom, Beauty, Truth and Love (Bohemian ideals) from only the Humanities is closed minded if not a little condecending. Why is it that you feel non-humanities students can only offer “mechanical people who are slaves to the wage”?
I study Chemistry and feel that I am more than capable of “thinking beyond the textbook” and can quite easily “seek answers to the happenings of this world”. I also take offence to the statement that only humanities students “possess the comfort of knowing that we are human, in every literal and metaphorical sense of the word. Subjects of the Humanities inspire students to become thinkers, to feel and to be sensitive towards others and to understand human relationships. And if nothing else, at least we can seek pleasure in knowing that at least we have something more interesting to talk about than rising house prices”. I believe those traits you think are unique to humanities are life lessons. Sure you can read about them in a book but only interaction with others and your own experiences will give you true knowledge.
It may even seem sad to you but I have a passion for the things I learn in chemistry. I am also an avid reader of all literature including many humanities subjects. I believe that life is what you make it, you can choose the job that you want but it must involve courage on your part to rise above criticism and the notion of ‘respectabiliy’.
So, I don’t think it matters what degree you do. There’s no need to complain that you had ’struggles’ in picking a humanites subject. If you really had other things to talk about, surely it wouldn’t be about career choices…
May 24th, 2006 at 7:40 am
So Jyoti: You saying that you find ‘Freedom, Beauty, Truth and Love’ in chemistry?
Anyway - the fact is that the degree and career choice of Indians in the West is mostly enslaved to the wage.
Regards
May 25th, 2006 at 9:02 am
Fantastic article. I’m currently studying Philosophy at Cambridge - and I find it one of the most fulfilling subjects here. Whilst my law and economics friends treat their subject with a bit of scepticism (some of them spend their time in the faculty toilets crying), I flourish in an environment where I am demanded to think for myself.
As for the Chemistry student not being able to find love, freedom, beauty, truth etc etc, I think there’s a more important point about studying a humanities subject. The point is that you can’t really think for yourself analytically unless you are trained to a certain degree to do so; very few people can. Unless someone forces you to break out of the mould it’s rare that you will. If there’s something I’ve learnt from studying philosophy it’s that there’s been so many things I’ve taken for granted or ignored that actually deserve consideration, and my lecturers have pointed out.
If you live in a society that tells you that all you need is money, and prestige and god-knows-what, then you will eventually begin to think that way. It’s the way we are as humans; I think we need to strive to change the mentality of a lot of Asians in our community. It’s good that so many of us are lawyers, doctors, dentists etc - but I’ve met so many of those that hate their jobs. Now I’m interested in law or the civil service, but that’s just because I’m interested in how the government works. I definitely don’t want to be stuck in suburban London writing wills for the rest of my lives, and why should others?
The importance of thinking analytically has been demonstrated historically. We are an ethnic minority, and as such, we ought to integrate ourselves into the wider community - if not for a general benefit, then for our own. If we are to live in a truly multicultural society, it should be a society with politicians who represent our views, and you don’t generally get good politicians who do chemistry, medicine and so on. If you’re a politician or a civil servant you need to think a specific way. The governmental system is what protects the money that our society values so much above all. Once that is taken away, as history has shown time and time again - there is nothing that can protect it. We have few political representatives, and that is something I find incredibly worrying. What is the point in being successful if the system doesn’t guarantee that success? Haven’t we learnt from the whole East-African business, still?
May 25th, 2006 at 6:48 pm
Interesting comments, Rina. I particularly liked these two bits:
“If we are to live in a truly multicultural society, it should be a society with politicians who represent our views, and you don’t generally get good politicians who do chemistry, medicine and so on.”
and
“We have few political representatives, and that is something I find incredibly worrying. What is the point in being successful if the system doesn’t guarantee that success? Haven’t we learnt from the whole East-African business, still?”
BTW, were your own folks cool with your choice of philosophy?
May 29th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
just to point out that i’m wasan’t saying that we shouldn’t study humanities, i’m all for it. i just objected to the fact that only humanities subjects teach you to be analytical etc. I agree with Reema in that you need to be trained to do so, however i disagree that you need a humanities subject to do so. i do think having lecturers or even people point things out is all well and good. but shouldn’t it be self awareness that is the true teacher?
June 2nd, 2006 at 7:00 am
Just out of interest, does politics count as a humanities subject? I know political fields are pretty rare amongst Hindus, just as much as ancient history.
June 20th, 2006 at 10:02 pm
Well, I’m a Hindu aged 16. Despite having chosen what career I wanted to pursue at a very early age, I still believe that it is upto the individual to decide what they want take on. I personally haven’t had a problem of disagreeing with my parents about my future and what subjects I want to study, however I know that I’ve been taught throughout my life about which subjects my parents would like me to carry on with etc. I do, on the other hand, have a friend, who isn’t Hindu, not even Indian; she comes from a Vietnamese family. She is interested in Fashion and design, and is superbly brilliant at Art. This is what she wants to pursue as a career, however her father assumes and forces her to take on maths, science and english, like “the rest of her family”. How can a person carry on with something that they aren’t interested in or they are not good at? Why can’t a person nurture a talent and carry on with something that they are good at, something that they enjoy? After all these debates between herself and her father, she has been put under a lot of stress. She starts to wonder why she’s so different to the “rest of the family”. And she also starts to doubt that what she wants may either come true and she may fail in life, giving her father a chance to point and say “I told you so” or her dreams may never come true at all.
I just belive that, yes, parents should give opinions and advice, but should let the child decide what they are good at.
June 22nd, 2006 at 6:28 pm
It is an often quoted principle that revolutionaries almost invariably end up becoming that which they started out fighting against - take, for example, communism in the USSR, black power in the USA, certain elements of feminism, etc.
It appears quite clear from the discussions here that there is as much stereotyping and judgmentalism amongst certain proponents of unconventional (for want of a better word) career paths as there allegedly is amongst those that they strive against. The example of not being able to find ‘Bohemian ideals’ anywhere but in the Humanities has already been given; I’d like to take issue with a fellow commentator here, Nishma ji. I’d like to start by congratulating Nishma ji for following her dream and I’d also like to wish her all the best in pursuing her goals into the future - with her evident determination and the support that she clearly has of those around her, I have no doubt she will have great success in her future endeavours. However, I would like to make a few comments, with all due respect.
Her comment dismisses out of hand students of the more conventional subjects: “My friends studying law, medicine, dentistry, etc - I’m sure we need not even ask them what they will be doing in 10 years time.” It is assumed that students of these subjects are automatically excluded from doing things like “Teach, travel, work abroad, write, journalism”, whereas I can cite numerous examples of lawyers, doctors and dentists who have quite successfully done all of these within their own professional fields. And then she ends with the implied assumption that those who choose to follow these paths do so because they felt some kind of obligation - could these people also not be following their own dream?
March 7th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Hey, i agree with this article, and to be honest, i am only at secondary school, doing my GCSEs. But personally i think this article was also a bit too extreame. I do notice there are very few parents left in London who still do that. My parents told me,
“take what you want (subject wise), ask for the help and books you need (tuition) , just make a good thing out of your life. There isn’t any point of me making these decisions for you.”
It’s not just mines, but typical indian parents from India, (my friends parents) share the same views. I think its becoming the minority in reality, but it’s so well recognised because it WAS the most common thing said about the “unusual” subjects.
My dreams reach out to solicitor, accounting or something that can help others. My parent’s support me, and i hope things change for those who don’t get support. I hope your parents and family open their eyes and realise there is more to the world than money minting businesses!!
March 8th, 2008 at 2:46 am
Everyone should follow whatever career they so wish, without hindrance from parents. The question we as hindus should ask ourselves is how do we use our chosen career to promote hinduism? We should not fall into the trap of abandoning one mind set only to immitate another detremental to our culture. There has been much talk about the merits of the humanities and the sciences, but what kind of humanities and what kind of sciences we are talking about here? Is it the Humanities or the Sciences that has been handed down to us by our forefathers? The failure in studying our own literature in the humanities and sciences is a sure way of dispossessing us of the ability to promote the Sanatana Dharmah that was handed down to us.
March 10th, 2008 at 9:21 am
India is still a young country and since the time of British occupation most of the HIndus have been in economic strife, even after independence. It is only natural for the older generations to think that financial security is important as they have had to slog it out to make something of themselves, and this mentality has been passed down to the next generation. Give it time, Seema is doing the right thing and you’ll see that in the next generation or so we will see more Hindus embracing the Humanities and who knows, perhaps usher into a new renaissance of Hindu Culture!
-Muski
March 11th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Amazing. One would conclude that India has too many doctors, engineers, etc.
Indians that emigrate have nothing to hold on to but their own power. If they become ill, are discriminated against, have a family member in India in dire straits… these emigrants have only the power of money, economics, to help themselves or their loved ones. They don’t depend on the government and can’t usually expect to depend on their parents. So they have to focus on money. Not because they are greedy but because they know what fear is - not fear for self but fear that they won’t be able to help when it is needed. Certainly they grow past that because at some point it becomes easy for them. Money goes to money. But listen to their stories of arriving. You will hear real struggles, real fears, not the post-modernist angst of what’s the best I can do for myself. So you must excuse, if not affirm, the zero’th generation.
As to the first generation: guys get a life. You are not your career! Arjuna’s role in the Gita is one who does not want to do his job. Arjuna is greater than his career. So are you. You should be happy in your career, fine, but you do your career because you have a social responsibility to participate and contribute to the world/humanity - not simply because it give you pleasure. You discuss beauty in the humanities. If you can’t see beauty in chemistry then your humanity’s construct of beauty is greatly flawed. If you can’t see compassion in medicine, law, engineering… you construct of love is mistaken. If you can’t see analytical thinking in PhD dissertation, then you are simply playing with the idea of analysis but not engaging in it.
Look, your personality is largely genetically determined. Your personality is then taught to you by your family and peers (from the language you use to the ideals you hold - even of revolt). But it is your will that sets you apart. If you use your will to follow, then you gave up long ago. If you use your will to lead, you may find your following in the footsteps of great person. Every person I know that loves his/her job loves it because of the insight it gives to them about humanity and self. Funny thing is, it doesn’t seem to matter what the job is.
Each of us needs to be an artist, a scientist, a designer, a philosopher, a psychologist, a mathematician, a gaurdian, a dancer, a healer, a parent, a child, an enemy, a friend… - ALL of it is what is meant by being human. That is who you are (though you are not that for: THAT Thou art).
Your career may be a choice, but, as a seeker of truth, excellence in your career is a prerequisite.
hariaum
April 1st, 2008 at 8:13 am
I just came back from India. The problem is just the same. All students want to study either medicine or engineering or biochmistry or computing or management. Universities do not get good students for general sciences or social sciences or humanities, particularly for the research. Army cannot get enough officer materials, civil services are now all full of Sc/ST( i.e from backward castes and tribes).
Indians in Britain are doing the same, although in Britain engineering is not good career in the same way in India Law is the last resort for anyone who have failed to get anything else. This is the only difference.
In future India will be full of engineers, computer programmers, doctors and MBAs but there will not be any scientists or writers or historians. In the same way among the Indian population in Britain, there will be only doctors and solicitors but no scientists or writers.