my parents were born in 1930s, due to wwii they didn't even finish high school.
my father (even so my mom) was very poor, he worked for a while for relatives but later for his own. he's good in business -- none of his children amasses comparable wealth though; however, none takes (or forced to take) 'stable' route (everyone works for self)
they are very hands-off on education. all but one receives bachelor degree though. i picked the school i wanted to go and majored in engineering -- never was forced.
my grades were always low. each year, pincipal always called my mom to discuss it. grades were never important to our family anyway and she's happy that i passed each :D
maybe it's just my parents. they survived one of the most tumultous era and without schooling or external help managed to do extremely well
so perhaps they expect as much for the children shrug
--- from reading others in this thread, i got the impression that [highly academic] parents with stable income (linear growth, not exponential) tend to be pushy
maybe because the formula worked for them. that formula would have steered my parents into slavery (and very high chance that i now am plowing a field instead of hacking lisp)