Over half (53%) of the women who made it to the IAS did so by the age of 26, an analysis of the TCPD-IAS data shows. For men, the corresponding age is 33 years. (While a large majority of officers are recruited directly through the CSE, some others join the service after being promoted from the state civil services, through special and/or emergency recruitment etc. The age limit of 32 years does not apply to such recruitments). This underlines that women make fewer attempts at the IAS exam than men. Among women who took the 2018 exam, 61% were taking it for the first time, 19% the second time and only 5% were giving the exam the fifth (or more) time, as per data from UPSC's latest report (2019-20). Against that, nearly 10% of men were taking the exam for the fifth (or more) time. The data underline the point about families being unwilling to let their daughters spend their twenties in prepping and repeatedly attempting to pass the exam.
‘Why There Have Been So Few Women In India's Administrative Services’, IndiaSpend