It's hard to see anything wrong with wanting your child to become a doctor or software engineer. After all, these professions are prestigious and high-paying. They also happen to be the kinds of jobs favored by many Asian-American parents.
But according to some Asian-American students we met recently at Stanford University, their parents can put too much emphasis on job security over personal fulfillment. They told us this can be very stressful for those want to do something else with their lives.
One student said she's been told by a friend's parent that "you shouldn't choose a career path because you love it; you choose a career and learn to like it."
We also interviewed a highly trained engineer in San Francisco, Sandip Roy, who grew up in India. His parents expected him to become an engineer and he did just that, eventually earning a six-figure salary in Silicon Valley.
But Roy wasn't personally fulfilled and desperately wanted to do something else. His biggest fear: disappointing his family.
Roy eventually came up with the courage to make a job switch and began working as a journalist. He does freelance writing and hosts a call-in program on public radio. And his family has learned to accept it.
While disappointing your parents can be tough on a child, I couldn't help but think as I reported this story that "Asian-American career pressure" is not the worst problem children could have.
-- By Dan Simon, CNN Correspondent
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