How does the thought of your parents choosing a career for you sound? Ridiculous? Well, unfortunately for some people, this is their reality—working in a career their parents want them to work in. 

Even though many parents have good intentions when it comes to choosing a career for their kids, they often forget to take into consideration what their children want to do or are interested in. They may be thinking about the financial stability that comes with the job or the prestigious title the job may offer. But the negative effects that their children may experience in the present, outweigh the potential positive outcomes that the future may bring them if they follow a career path they were pressured into following. This is why I believe that parents shouldn’t decide the careers of their children. 

A survey involving 810 working people and 210 parents by Joblist found that 40% of the responders felt that they were pressured to work in a specific field. They also found that Gen Z’s most likely felt that their parents were influencing or guiding them towards a certain career path. On top of that, roughly two-thirds of the parents were disappointed when their children didn’t follow the career path of their choice.  

There are multiple reasons why parents want to influence their children to choose a certain career path: they want their children to work in a field that pays well, they want their children’s job to bring prestige to the family, or they want their children to achieve their own unachieved ambitions. In the same survey, it was also found that guilt was one of the ways that parents got their children to follow their choice of career.

As previously mentioned, pressuring children into following a certain career path, can have negative effects on them. To begin with, using guilt to pressure children to do something according to their parents’ wishes, can cause less independence, less productivity during adulthood, and a negative perception about healthy relationships. Children know themselves best; they know their interests and the subjects that intrigue them. Parents pressuring children into pursuing a career involving a subject their child is not interested in, or not proficient in, can put the child in a lot of stress. 

It can also cause children to resent their parents as adults because of the lack of liberty they were given as children towards choosing their careers. 

If adults are not happy working in the career path chosen by their parents, then they are also more prone to psychological and physical problems than someone who works in a job they like. They are more likely to get ill and have a weak immune system. They are more likely to get depression and/or anxiety, and even likely to have a shorter lifespan. The stress acquired from the workplace can also result in physical symptoms on top of fatigue and irritability. It can tamper with their sleep cycle, which in turn results in more problems. It can cause problems in personal life due to the negativity surrounding work as well as lower passion and self-esteem. 

Freshman Annie Jiang said, “They obviously shouldn’t [decide their children’s career] even if it’s their kids. It automatically has a negative impact on influencing children’s own ideas on their future career as well as their critical thinking. People can be best at something only if they like it.”

Senior Omran Momen said, “I believe that no one has the right to decide someone else’s career for them. As it is nowadays, children are heavily influenced by social media and other forms which may deviate them from their passions, and they end up choosing pathways with which they aren’t satisfied, and with additional pressure from their parents, children may not be able to discover and pursue their passions.”

Taking all these factors into consideration, I ultimately think that parents shouldn’t decide which careers their children should pursue. Even if parents have good intentions, they are risking their children’s happiness and wellbeing by pushing them towards a career of their choice. 

Parents can always suggest and help with their children’s hunt for a suitable career, but they shouldn’t dictate their future. 

Photo courtesy of FLICKR.COM