I think in any career you can find the good and the bad. It's a matter of a person's attitude and what's in their heart. Everyone's motive is different and you can't judge from an outside perspective.
The question is do most Desi people really follow what's in their heart? Or are they finding (being pressured into) carreers that give them some illusion of status, that sounds impressive? Perhaps it is a matter of luxury. Not everyone has the access to education or the opportunity to do a job they love. Some people just have to work to survive paycheck to paycheck.
woww reading all that made me feel so good! ...yea my parents had/have the same expectations from me as well. Engineering/Commerce/Med runs in my family..and then I came along. The oddball in the family who can't do math for her life. So yea I'm in social scieces,law major rite now. I had initially planned to go into edcuation but with thr vast amount of desi chickas(from our social group) going into education now, my mommy has basically forbidden me to even think abt it now sigh ...cuz she wants me to do sumthing "different" ..so now I'm going into Law...my courses now are so dam general that I don't even no wat to expect in uni .....I'm thinking abt going into something with writing ..lekin I don't wanna create another scence at home...so looks like im an another vicitim of parents and their expectations. Yaar when i have kids I won't care what they go into as long as they can earn a decent living and life.
As for the thing abt males being more pressured. I totally agree...but times are changing. I,along with a lot of other girls I know, WANT to work. It doesn't matter if the males are the "bread winners" but it just doesnt work that way abroad...maybe in Pakistan males are still pressured cuz most women don't work. But here in North America...it doesnt work that way. Most families have both parents who work. Some ppl do it by choice and others must do so to make ends meet.
my cuzin told me abt this GUY he met who was in FILM STUDIES gasp!! Imagine that ...a Pakistani guy in that...although i dont no him i respect this guy a lot ..he had to convince his parents to let him go to Carleton (a uni in Ottawa) for film studies.
And then now my mom is already "brainwashing" my brother that he's goona be a pilot or doctor ......the kid's only 9 for crying outloud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i am almost done with my psych major and poli sci as minor. initially i planned to do both the majors but due to time constraint and lack of funding i had to cut short poli sci major into minor. i love social psych and developemntal psych. in future i might actually explore more courses from humanities. i enjoyed taking cultural anthro and religion courses as electives. after couple of years i may either come back to upgrade my degree or just go for masters inshallah, when i've saved enough ( i dont want to take loans).
my parents were heart broken too when i told them i am simply not cut out for med. its too depressing for me.
i did Sociology and Media Stidies for my BA, and Social Work for my MA, and boy did I have to put up with grief from the desi community. I remember this one instance when an aunty asked me what I was studying, when i told her I was majoring in Sociology she just gave me a disapproving look, turned to my sister and asked, 'F, tum tho clever ho, thum kya par rehi hu?'. I'd cry if I didn't laugh.
Everyone I work with is always telling me how proud my parents should be. As if. To this day, they think I've wasted my life by becoming a social worker. Not a day goes by without my mum telling me that my job is too dangerous and that i should resign and become a college lecturer. The only danger I've encountered so far is a papercut from all the flippin forms I have to fill in, but she's just looking for an excuse I guess
The only thing that matters is how much YOU enjoy the job.
Philosophy, psychology and arts is for pea brains. If you have the will, be a man/woman and try handling 3 lab sessions on top of lectures and tutorials every week . What really peeves me off is when people label psychology as an actual science; God knows that’s far, FAR from the truth. My rant is over.
I have experimented throughtout my life when it comes to studies..maybe, i love to explore different areas of studies or maybe i am a generalist..i have studied science, law, business management, philosophy, psychology, arts (graphics design, ceramics), esthetics, travel tourism, and ancient civilizations. I was discouraged by my teachers years and years ago to go into travel and ancient civilizations eventhough they themselves specialized in the field. Currently, i am studying social service work and i am enjoying it :-)
wat do u think of the emerging field of neuropsychology? Combining behavioral sciences and scientific methods used in those with molecular biology? Along with a couple of others this is a field with huge potential for research.
(Mind you, this is a superspecialisation within psychology and not biology.)
related to this are a few other specialisations/fields as well: developmental neuropsychology, psychology of aging, gene-environment psychology, psychology-psychiatry etc etc
This thread seems more a self-patting exercise by liberal art graduates, so I should leave it at that, but just want to add, that a vast number of desis are not in sciences, but are enterpreneurs. I have seen a ton of desis (they actually grow fat enough to be labled "ton" without too much exaggeration) working in their karyanay ki dukaan and driving cabs.
. What really peeves me off is when people label psychology as an actual science; God knows that’s far, FAR from the truth. My rant is over.
? No wonder it’s called a “soft” science.