Obsessive Asian Parents
catch23: My parents fit this category.  I am an American born Chinese, my parents came here to do their PhDs & postdoc, but attended college in China.They are also very "conservative".  My mom pushed my sister to attend MIT over Princeton so that she would take the engineering route instead of something like liberal arts (even though she's fond of writing).  I was pushed in that same direction as well...  you could say we are a family of engineers (except for my mom who is a professor).  After my sister graduated with a degree in material science, she now wants to become a writer or do something as far away from science as possible... much to the chagrin of my mom.  (her marks in material science were all stellar so the decision was not academic)  She's still doing her PhD at MIT but has been actively applying for non-science jobs for the past 12 months or so.  She's totally an extrovert, I just couldn't see her becoming a professor anyway.The first time I had to deal with "breaking out" of the mold was when I told my parents I was leaving Atlanta to live in the Bay Area without first landing a job.  They were pretty mad and the argument left with my mom in tears.  Even though I was pretty frugal and saved enough from my first job to live 8-12 months without a job, they still wanted assurance of stability.I succumbed to their plea and did a little job hunting.  I picked the employer that would pay for my entire move just to please my parents.  I quit the job 4 months later. (they even let me keep my big signing bonus)  When my parents found out I quit, they flew out to San Francisco just to yell at me, the argument ended in tears yet again (I think my mom is a little too emotional).  But I was steadfast, I knew I was capable and I could always pick up random contracting jobs if necessary.This is almost my 3rd year out in the Bay Area and I've contracted directly with so many startup founders that if my startup ever fails, they would hire me on the spot.  The opportunities in the Valley are really amazing -- especially if you know your stuff and can demonstrate it to other startup founders.  I did some pro-bono work for one of the Linkedin cofounders and later on he practically begged me to help him out on one of his projects.My mom has learned to deal with my unstable cash flow and there are no more arguments (thank god!).  So for a typical Asian raised from a very conservative family culture, it's very possible to break out of the mold as long as you stay focused on the light at the end of the tunnel :-).