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In today’s world, technical knowledge is of much lower priority than it once was, for the knowledge is accessible to all. What are highly prized are the soft skills of communicating, collaborating and mobilising.

Many children from South Asian backgrounds perform extremely well academically, but struggle later in the work setting exactly because their skills in these other arenas are not as well developed. They then find themselves resenting their peers who are more successful in spite of poorer academic performance, playing out an occupational story similar to many of their parents.

This is certainly the case in India, where there is enormous pressure and competition to enter the best schools and thereafter, the most prestigious and lucrative careers. The child’s achievements are closely tied to the

They then find themselves resenting their peers who are more successful in spite of poorer academic performance, playing out an occupational story similar to many of their parents it, in part, on the immense pressure parents place on their children to achieve high grades.

A Fairfax article about so-called ‘tiger mothers’ suggested Indians were likely to be as aggressive as any other ethnic group.

A mother living in Australia identified as Mrs Dhaliwal said she does not allow her daughters to sleepover at friends’ houses and says sports can be ‘time consuming’ and might cause them to ‘fall behind in

Another facet of parents focusing too heavily on studies is that children, sons especially, become dependent in areas like domestic chores or have a lacklustre work ethic. Unlike Western style parenting, there is no great emphasis on achieving autonomy and independence from an early age, for there is a more collective expectation that the children will retain close ties and even some dependence with the extended family. This is in many ways a good thing, but there are disadvantages. We are all too aware of the esteemed place the eldest son has in South Asian cultures, to the point where they are often placed on a pedestal. When those same children grow up and are required to be independent, they are often grossly unprepared. I can look back on my own experience of having to prepare canned food briefly amidst driving back home in a panic to eat my mother’s cooking after first moving out of home. Wives are also faced with hopelessly underprepared men barely capable of tying their own shoelaces without their mother’s help. This is the worst case scenario, but the broader point is that being prepared for the modern world requires a great deal more than being adept at quadratic equations or having a degree in medicine.