Vivek Ramaswamy claims that leading tech companies favor hiring foreign-born workers, specifically from India, because they are perceived to be more skilled than American candidates.

His statement sparked discussions about work visas and the work ethic in the U.S.

However, Ramaswamy’s attempt to make a significant cultural point in a viral post fell flat, mainly due to its awkward references to 90s television shows. His comments suggested that America’s culture has prioritized mediocrity over excellence for too long, and he believes that a focus on celebrating academic achievements over athletic ones, similar to the approaches taken by many Asian immigrant families, is the key to improving the talent pool for the tech industry.

My Experience with ‘Tiger Parenting’

Ramaswamy argues that strict parenting styles like those of many Asian immigrants could address issues within American culture. However, having grown up in a community filled with such “tiger parents,” I can attest that this parenting approach might not cultivate the innovative minds Ramaswamy envisions, but rather perpetuates the mediocrity he seeks to eliminate.

Similar to Ramaswamy, I am the child of Indian immigrants. While my parents did not fit the classic mold of tiger parents, I am well-acquainted with the intense, accomplishment-driven parenting style common among many immigrant families from South and East Asia.

Many of my friends’ parents treated childhood as an extended contest for elite college admission. I witnessed parents enrolling their children in after-school tutoring programs like Kumon and in rigorous academic competitions such as Model UN, while discouraging creative pursuits like joining a band or simply socializing at pool parties.

Their insistence on team sports had a concealed agenda: ensuring that Ivy League admissions committees recognized their children as “well-rounded.”

Even after my friends made it to college, their parents continued to impose restrictions on their major choices, insisting on “practical” fields like statistics or chemistry, and pushing them toward careers in medicine, engineering, finance, or law. Deviating from these paths, they were often cautioned, would mean “wasting” the sacrifices made during their families’ immigration to provide better opportunities.

Parents like these, often referred to as tiger parents after Amy Chua’s 2011 memoir “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” impose rigid demands on their children. In her book, Chua describes her strict methods, banning playdates and video games while enforcing hours of piano practice, threatening the withdrawal of basic comforts if her children did not comply.

Chua believes her authoritarian approach is the most effective way to produce hardworking, high-achieving children, a notion that Ramaswamy seems to support, having studied under her at Yale.

Ramaswamy’s Misconception About ‘Tiger Parenting’

However, children raised in such highly controlled environments, deprived of free time to explore personal interests and stifled in their creativity and risk-taking, may lack the essential qualities needed to innovate and excel in the tech sector and beyond.

Despite appearing accomplished, these tiger cubs might still embody the mediocrity Ramaswamy criticizes.

Now in their mid-twenties and having reached prestigious positions in finance or tech, my friends raised by tiger parents frequently express feelings of burnout and aimlessness. They confess that the choices they made for their studies and careers were not really choices at all, leading to long hours in jobs they dislike for reasons that escape them.

They lament not spending more time during their youth exploring their interests, engaging in diverse hobbies, or simply enjoying reading beyond middle school—considering they often felt unsupported by their parents in pursuing such passions.

Although tiger parents may succeed in raising children who become “successful STEM graduates” and future management consultants, the evidence suggests that this may not lead to the best outcomes for future innovators and creators—the very people who could bring the technological and cultural vibrancy necessary for the country’s growth and leadership role globally.

Americans Can Compete Globally Without ‘Tiger Parents’

If the goal is for future generations to surpass global competitors in technology or any field of achievement, it’s crucial for Americans to instill a sense of intellectual challenge in their children.

Importantly, children must also have the freedom to independently explore their passions and interests, free from the expectations of their parents or their communities. It’s vital to help them navigate the mental health challenges, such as anxiety and depression, associated with overly strict parenting.

Only by doing so can young individuals discover their inner motivation to excel in their chosen fields and perhaps even revolutionize them.

As noted by many, notable tech entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Sam Altman dropped out of college, and Steve Jobs even traveled to India as a teenager, searching for enlightenment.
The very history of the tech industry demonstrates that, contrary to the belief held by tiger parents, following a predetermined career path imposed by authority figures is not the only route to achievement and impact.

Encouraging more individuals to emulate the parenting styles of Asian immigrants may lead to a few more kids becoming highly qualified software engineers, but it won’t necessarily create a new era of American prosperity, as Ramaswamy suggests. True progress comes from allowing children the leisure they need to nurture their unique interests and curiosities—which I am grateful my own parents allowed me to pursue.

Surya Gowda is a fact-checking fellow with News Opinion.