The Union Public Service Commission conducts civil service tests to hire graduates across several government ministries such as the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, Indian Revenue Service, and others, with over 10 lakh applications each year. Many international exams conducting organizations have ranked this examination as the second most difficult in the world due to the low pass rate of fewer than 1.5 percent. There were more than 10 lakh applications for as few as 761 openings in government services across various public administration departments in the most recent iteration of the UPSC civil service exam.
The number of engineering graduates has dominated the UPSC exams for a decade now, according to a trend noted in the examination. According to the Department of Personnel and Training’s most recent data, 245, or 57.25 percent, of the 428 government workers from the 2020 batch who attended the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie for training held an engineering degree. Eight others have engineering and managerial backgrounds. Only 84 government workers with a background in the humanities are in the batch, accounting for 19.6% of the total. The following are the reasons why do engineers have a better success rate in the UPSC exams and what are the reasons:
What helps engineers crack the IAS exam?
In the years since the number of engineers has increased. Engineering colleges have sprouted up in every nook and cranny, producing a big number of engineers each year. For these young people, the public service offers a good, steady job alternative. The number of successful engineer applicants for the IAS exam has grown since the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) was added to the UPSC prelims test. To gain a better understanding of the exam trends, they download the current affairs for UPSC pdf.
Experience in appearing for competitive examination:
When the CSAT was implemented in 2011, many IAS applicants objected, claiming that the new format favored those with a technical degree. In response to the outpouring of support, the commission changed the CSAT to qualify for the main exam. Questions on mathematical ability, analytical ability, reasoning, English comprehension, and other topics are included in the CSAT. Engineers, with their science backgrounds, have an easier time with the CSAT than humanities grads. To gain admission to their respective engineering universities, the majority of engineering graduates would have had to pass one or more other national or state-level engineering entrance examinations. Furthermore, all state governments have begun conducting entrance examinations for the purpose of allocating engineering seats to applicants.
Lack of Suitable Employment Opportunities:
Another factor contributing to the surge in engineering graduates is the country’s vast number of engineers. Due to a shortage of relevant work options, young people naturally gravitate into alternative professions, such as the civil service. Furthermore, there are many others in the country who disagree. They want to work in the civil service, but they get an engineering degree as a backup plan. People want to have a backup plan in case their IAS dream does not come true due to the unpredictable nature of the IAS exam. On a lighter note, it is stated that in India, people first become engineers before deciding what they want to do with their lives!
Availability of Humanities subjects as optional:
Subjects from the humanities stream have traditionally been regarded as the highest-scoring subjects in the IAS exam. Despite an increase in the number of candidates with technical backgrounds entering civil service, the trend has remained consistent, as seen in table 3. In fact, the vast majority of engineering students who pass the civil service test opt for humanities topics as an IAS main examination alternative. They gain a double-sided advantage by having a strong technical background and choosing a ‘high-scoring’ humanities optional course. You can begin your studies by downloading or purchasing books for current affairs vision IAS. Examine previous year’s papers to gain a feel of the pattern. To pass the exam, you must practice Prelims and Mains question papers with complete focus on a daily basis.
Objective mindset:
Engineering students are more likely to be tech-savvy because they come from a technical academic background. This is because the engineering curriculum is structured in such a way that it encourages objective thinking and a focused mentality for exam preparation. To put it another way, they have higher deductive reasoning, which aids in a better grasp of the IAS exam’s syllabus and examination style. As a result, when it comes to studying for the IAS exam, engineering graduates may select the themes and aspects that are most important from an examination standpoint and provide precise responses to the questions.
Hence, Engineers also have an edge over humanities applicants in that they have a greater range of disciplines to choose from as optional subjects. They can choose to focus on engineering or other science disciplines such as math or physics. Humanities topics such as history, sociology, public administration, political science, and geography are additional options. Candidates in the humanities, on the other hand, can only choose from the humanities optional subjects. Hope this post will help you. All The Best!
