Why They're Leaving

If we are suffering a decrease in interest in engineering, then we must be vigilant in retaining those who do enter - especially women and students from underrepresented ethnic groups who are particularly vulnerable to high attrition rates in engineering programs. [...] the lack-of-belonging factor was especially key in understanding the failure of some students to persist in engineering despite robust GPAs and positive perception about the difficulty of the curriculum and of the teaching and advising.