Authors : Suhani Dhapa, Manek Vinodan, Devika Sejwal

Abstract

India and China have both witnessed the rise of mass civil service aspiration despite profound differences in their political systems. This exploratory research compares India’s Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination and China’s National Civil Service Examination (Guokao) to examine the socioeconomic and political forces sustaining the appeal of state employment. Drawing on qualitative data analysed through narrative and thematic methods, the study explores how labour-market uncertainty, aspirations for social mobility, state legitimacy, and familial expectations shape examination cultures in both countries. The findings demonstrates significant convergences across divergent institutional contexts. In India and China alike, civil service preparation functions as a response to economic insecurity and a socially legitimate pathway to status and mobility. However, these examination systems also generate prolonged periods of youth underemployment, delay key life transitions, and remove large numbers of educated young adults from productive economic activity. Ultimately, the study asks whether the rise of mass civil service aspiration signals the strength of the state, the weakness of the market, or a deeper reconfiguration of the relationship between the two.

Keywords: UPSC, Guokao, India, China, socioeconomics, civil services, youth aspirations