Who gets to choose and who doesn't?
A recent conversation with a friend made me realize how much one's upbringing and identity influence one's perspective on career choices. While many different factors affect people's desire to pursue a certain career path, what stuck out to me from talking to people in my life is that the socioeconomic class of one's parents or guardians and their cultural identities seem to be the most prevalent factors, with first-generation students being at the intersection of these two factors.
People with elite backgrounds are increasingly dominating academia because this field and similar jobs where the rewards are generally non-monetary, typically attract a demographic of people who do not have cash concerns. Multiple studies confirmed this finding as children from high-income households find jobs with non-monetary benefits more attractive than those with less wealthy backgrounds do. This is why people with less privileged backgrounds will pass up opportunities, like in academia, for better-paid work in finance or law.
My friend and I are great examples of this phenomenon. My friend wants to pursue a PhD, and I have chosen to pursue a career in law. When our college professor encouraged us both to pursue PhDs, my friend was much more open to the idea than I was. While I entertained the prospect for a bit, after comparing the journey to obtain a PhD versus a JD and the average salaries in careers with the two different degrees, I decided to stick with my original plan of becoming a lawyer.
While I want to become a lawyer for many reasons, I'd be lying if I said that job prospects and salaries didn't play a major role in my career choice. After all, the legal profession is one of the most stress-inducing professions. Yet, my parents' socioeconomic status and cultural background greatly influenced my decision.
Hearing about my mother's financial hardships motivated me to find a financially lucrative career to ensure she and my family would never have to worry about money again and that they would be well taken care of. Additionally, witnessing people make fun of or take advantage of my grandparents' and parents' poor English drove me to a career that is well-respected and thus, socially powerful, so I can protect them. This is especially important to me because in Chinese culture, family is always supposed to look after one another regardless of age. I am one of many whose family circumstances greatly shape their children's lives and career choices.
On the other end of the spectrum is my friend. She doesn't have to worry about her financial security because her parents are both well-off, and she can lean on them if she needs to, so she has the opportunity to study what her heart desires. She can, in her words, "take her time, enjoying life being lost to figure out what she wants." My friend could choose what she studied and the career path she desired based on intellectual fulfillment without focusing on the financial gain of her education and choices due to her socioeconomic background and her lack of familial obligations since the culture she was brought up in valued individualism and independence over everything else. Of course, this is in no way trying to understate other struggles my friend may have but is a mere acknowledgment of how one's circumstances greatly impact one's career pursuits.
I was curious to see if this is also true in other countries and societies. A couple of studies done in Bangladesh also echoed the same findings, which state that many children's career choices are based on their parents' occupations. Even more, these studies also noted age, religion, location of residence, and parent's education (not just current occupation) have positive impacts on students' career choices too.
While socioeconomic status and cultural identities seemed to be the most prevalent factors that I've seen around me affecting people's professional pursuits, I wanted to note how these factors are rarely mutually exclusive. Oftentimes, at the intersection of lower socioeconomic status and certain cultural identities are first-gen students. This is true for a multitude of reasons.
Historically and presently, minorities and those of the lower socioeconomic classes have a harder time attaining higher education due to discrimination. As such, the first-generation population tends to be individuals from these communities who are disadvantaged due to their limited professional networks. Consequently, securing job opportunities and mentors is more challenging. The less exposure one has to various professions, the more limited one's understanding of available career options.
This limited exposure and view is instead filled by the perception of success (like becoming a doctor, lawyer, or engineer) of one's family. In my opinion, many people's perceptions of successful careers tend to be strongly correlated with their salaries.
So do we actually "choose" our careers? Or are our careers chosen for us?
Labels: academia, class, family, higher education, Pressure, Success
posted by nay @ January 30, 2025
6 Comments
6 Comments:
Thank you for your insights. Your discussion about how people from elite backgrounds are more likely to choose a career for non-monetary reasons reminded me about the different paths in law. I have heard from my peers who have certain passions in the law, like immigration or public defense, opting to work at a law firm that does not do that type of work in order to pay loans. I have also heard comments made about how people who want to go into big law are "selling out." These types of comments or occurrences have irked me because people whose families are able to support them financially are more able to work in alignment with their passions, which is not fair. It is also unfair for people to see negativity in others wanting to go into big law because big law enables people to give their families the life they feel they deserve. Working for monetary reasons is what some people need to do to survive, which people from more elite backgrounds might not realize.
I appreciate the perspective that your experience compared to your friends brings to the conversation of inheriting wealth and careers. In response to Jenna's comment also, even when first generation students or Americans actually get to law school, they often work in lower paying public interest positions. I've always wondered why this is, whether it's because first generation students often lack the network and support needed to get into big law, if its because public interest positions are often the only positions first generation students know are available before getting to law school, or if its because they see the need that non-first generation students do not see. It is almost as if first generation students inherit these positions from other first generation law students, thus creating a new kind of inheritance.
Hello S, thank you for bringing up this vexing question: what factors should guide us in choosing our careers? As Prof. Pruitt has previously asserted in class, it is valid to want money. In our society, it is incontrovertible that money equates to very desirable things, such as stability, power, and comfort. However, my mother taught me that everything in excess is poison. Applying this principle, in planning my future, I have found it helpful to consider the minimum salary that would allow me to support myself, support my loved ones, have some fun, and squirrel away modest 25% of my paycheck. Who really NEEDS $200,000 a year to be happy?
This is such a unique discussion and I am so happy you spoke about it. As you pointed out, I think being a first gen student who grew up with financial hardship being motivated by finances makes sense. It does however lead us to make different choices and sacrifices than our peers. I have noticed even in the legal profession, jobs that don't pay for the summer or clerkships are more attractive to students who can appreciate non-monetary gain. Many first gen students, like you and I, don't have that luxury. However, I am learning not to feel ashamed about that. As Jenna said in her earlier comment, working for monetary reasons is what some of us need to do to survive. I believe having a passion for law and appreciating the financial gain it will provide you can go hand in hand!
Hi S, I absolutely love this topic and actually have talked about it in some of my questions from the weekly readings. I completely agree with a lot of what you said. I absolutely would have made many different choices if money and financial freedom were not priorities for me. Not to say I am unhappy with my choices, however I would be lying if I did not acknowledge that many of my choices were based on earning potential. Another area where this conversation sometimes arises in law school is when people try to figure out if they want to go on the big law track or not.
Nay, thank you for sharing. While I am not from a background where caring for family is super normalized or common in adulthood, I too feel a need to protect and care for my family. My grandmother dropped out of high school when she became pregnant with my mom—but she, later, acquired a GED and is now a successful real-estate agent. Currently, through her practice she provides work to both my aunt and my uncle, but she is aging. I wonder what my aunt and uncle will do when my grandmother inevitably passes away. Their workdays seem very laidback when I visit (watching sports and scrolling Facebook), and I am not confident they could generate the leads my grandmother ruthlessly hunts down. I feel that the pressure falls to me to support their livelihood. My mom also often says things like “you should start your own business, so I can quit my job and work for you….” I will fill in gaps where I am needed in the future, but do you ever wish the pressure wasn’t on you?
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