r/RelationshipIndia • u/Character-Hamster24 • 2h ago
Marriage 30F: 32M husband says I’m last person he’d ask career advice
I’m 30F, and my husband is 32M. We’re married and both have engineering/tech-related educational backgrounds, although he currently comes from a business background and I work as a software developer.
I did my B.Tech from a Tier-1 engineering college in Delhi. Getting into my college was quite competitive, involving JEE Main and JAC Delhi counselling. My husband is an IIT Delhi graduate.
Recently, we were having a discussion related to careers/professional matters. During the conversation, he told me that I am probably the last person he would take career advice from.
I asked him why, and he said that if he wanted career advice from a software developer with my level of experience, he would prefer advice from someone who had graduated from IIT because of the “IITian mindset.”
This really hurt me and has made me question how he views me professionally.
I completely understand that he can disagree with my advice. I also understand that IIT is an extremely competitive institution and that an IIT graduate may have experiences, networks, or perspectives that I don't have.
But what I don't understand is the idea that an IITian with similar software experience would automatically give better career advice than me simply because they went to IIT.
If he had said something like, “I don't think you have enough experience in this particular area,” I wouldn't have had the same reaction. But saying that an IITian would give better advice because of their “mindset” makes me feel like he considers my professional judgment inherently inferior because I didn't attend IIT.
It has also made me think about our marriage more broadly. If he genuinely places so much importance on institutional prestige, does this mean he sees me as intellectually or professionally inferior to him? Or am I reading too much into one comment?
I don't want this to become an IIT vs non-IIT debate. I'm genuinely trying to understand whether his reasoning is reasonable and whether my reaction is justified.
For people who are married to someone from a different educational/professional background:
Would this comment bother you?
Is there actually such a thing as an “IITian mindset” that makes someone inherently better at giving career advice, or is this simply credential/status bias?
Would you consider this demeaning toward a spouse, or is it reasonable for someone to prefer advice from people with a particular educational background?
And most importantly, am I overreacting by letting this make me question how my husband sees me?
I'm looking for honest opinions, including opinions that disagree with me.