In those communities what others think in the community is very important.
As a result parents like nothing more than to "elevate" themselves by bragging about what their child has done.
So for example someone can truly want their child to do "better than they did" but also separately want to be able to have bragging rights to their friends and neighbors that "my child just graduated from Harvard". To me these are two separate motivations.
Elevation is a very important concept I have found that explains why, for example, even though I don't care if someone is clerking for SCOTUS (you might of course) that I will gladly tell that fact to someone else in order to impress them. "Oh we went to dinner with Jane's she's clerking for Scalia". (Actually I do care I think it's impressive but I'm trying to illustrate a point here).
My perspective is based btw on growing up in an immigrant family and what I have observed.
Results are published, and colleges then make their decisions based on the results of those test. If you don't outperform your peers, your pathway to a good career will get significantly more complicated.
In those communities what others think in the community is very important.
As a result parents like nothing more than to "elevate" themselves by bragging about what their child has done.
So for example someone can truly want their child to do "better than they did" but also separately want to be able to have bragging rights to their friends and neighbors that "my child just graduated from Harvard". To me these are two separate motivations.
Elevation is a very important concept I have found that explains why, for example, even though I don't care if someone is clerking for SCOTUS (you might of course) that I will gladly tell that fact to someone else in order to impress them. "Oh we went to dinner with Jane's she's clerking for Scalia". (Actually I do care I think it's impressive but I'm trying to illustrate a point here).
My perspective is based btw on growing up in an immigrant family and what I have observed.