why following your passion may not be the answer – 5 reasons

This article is a response to the overwhelming advice especially to young people about following their passion. Today we seek to explain why following your passion may not be the answer. When I got my bachelor’s degree in engineering and sociology, I decided to do what I love. I went straight to graduate school to explore the social sciences that both scared and fascinated me. For almost a decade, I told everyone I met—students, cousins, baristas at the restaurants I frequented—that they should do the same. “Follow your passion,” I advised. “You can find out what the job is later.”

It wasn’t until I started researching this widely accepted career advice that I realized how problematic — and rooted in privilege — it is.

The theory of passion

As a sociologist who examines labor culture and inequality, I have interviewed students and working professionals to find out what it really means to pursue their dreams, what I will call where a principle of passion. I was surprised by what I discovered about this principle in researching my book “The Trouble with Passion”.

I looked at the research that shows that the American public holds the principle of great interest as a work decision decision since 1980.

And the popularity is even stronger among those who face a work stoppage associated with disease .

My interviews showed that proponents of the passion principle find it interesting because they believe that following one’s passion can provide employees with both motivation to work hard and a place to succeed.

But what I discovered is that following one’s passion is not the key to success, but is one of the most powerful and enduring cultural forces.

I also found that promoting the exercise of sexual desire contributes to the promotion of social inequality because not everyone has the same economic resources to make it possible to do it with pleasure something.

reasons why following your passion may not be the answer

1. Promotes social inequality

Although the concept of passion is popular everywhere, not everyone has the resources to turn their passion into a stable, well-paid job. Enthusiastic people from wealthy families are able to wait for their dream job to come without worrying about student loans these days.

They are also in a better position to accept tuition-free schools to get a foot in the door when their parents pay the rent or let them live at home. They also often have access to their parents’ social networks to help them find work.

Research has found that workers and first-generation graduates, regardless of their occupation, are more likely than their wealthier peers to end up in low-paying, low-skilled jobs when they pursue their interests. Colleges and universities, career centers and career counselors promote a “follow your passion” approach for all, regardless of level playing field, contributing to social inequality among applicants. job.

So those who promote the “follow your passion” approach for everyone may be overlooking the fact that not everyone can achieve success by following this advice.

2. A good threat to well-being

My research has shown that passionate advocates see the pursuit of passion as a good way to make a career decision, not only because working on a passion can lead to a successful career, but also because ‘because it is believed to lead to a good life.

To achieve this, enthusiasts put a lot of thought of their identity into their work.

However, employees are not organized with the goal of developing a good sense of self.

In fact, studies of laid-off workers have shown that those who are passionate about their work feel that they have lost part of their identity when they are laid off, as well as their place of work. income.

When we depend on our work to give us purpose, we place our identity at the mercy of the world’s economy.

3. Promotes exploitation

It’s not just the wealthy who are interested in benefiting from the hunger policy.

Employers are enthusiastic too. I did an experiment to see how potential employers would respond to job seekers expressing different reasons for being interested in a job.

Not only do potential employers select interested applicants and those who want the job for other reasons, but employers carefully tap into that appetite: potential employers jobs showed great interest and interested job seekers, in part because employers thought that candidates would work hard at their job unexpectedly. pick up. and payment.

4. Strengthens the culture of overwork

In my conversations with college students and graduate workers, I’ve found that a significant number of them are willing to sacrifice good pay, job stability, and free time to do work they love.

Almost half – or 46% – of the graduate workers I surveyed had an interest or interest in the profession as a priority in future work.

Compared to only 21% who brought up salary and 15% who brought up work-life balance. Among the people I interviewed were the ones who said they would “eat ramen every night” and “work 90 hours a week” if it meant they could follow their passion.

Although many professionals are looking for work in their area of ​​interest precisely because they want to avoid the burden of working long hours in a job that they are not personally involved in, the pursuit of passions that reinforce cultural expectations of overwork.

Most enthusiasts I’ve spoken to are willing to work long hours as long as it’s a job they’re passionate about.

6. Ingnores inequality in the labor market

I discovered that the passion principle is not the only guide that its followers use to make decisions about their lives. For many, this also serves as an explanation for labor inequality.

For example, compared to those who do not follow the principle of passion, those who support it may say that women are not well represented in engineering because they have followed their interests elsewhere, instead of accepting deep foundation in the culture of this below. – Representative.

In other words, the proponents of the appetite principle often describe the system of inequality in the labor market as a negative consequence of the pursuit of individual appetite.

Avoid those traps

To avoid these pitfalls, people may want to base their career decisions on something other than whether those decisions represent their passions.

• What do you want from your job besides the salary?
• Forecast hours?
• Nice coworkers?
• Benefits?
• Honorable boss?

For those who are working in a profession that you are interested in, I encourage you to change your portfolio of ways to create meaning – to develop hobbies, activities, community service and existing features. completely non-functional.

How can you make time to invest in other ways to achieve purpose and satisfaction?

Another thing to consider is whether you’re getting paid well for the effort you put into your work. If you work for a company, does your manager know that you spend your weekends studying for team leaders or mentoring your new team member after hours? We contribute to our own exploitation if we work without pay for our work out of hunger.