Much of the research regarding undergraduate women in engineering approaches the issue in terms of persistence or retention, examining factors influencing women's choices of major and career. Originally this work was driven by alarming data suggesting that women leave engineering at higher rates than men. More recent studies suggest that women and men leave engineering at equal rates during the college years. Factors influencing persistence and attrition are often similar for men and women, but there are some important differences. For example, Atman reported data from the Academic Pathways Study in which seniors identified motivating factors in their decisions to study engineering. Intrinsic psychological factors (liking engineering as a subject or field) and intrinsic behavioral factors (liking what engineers do, e.g., play with equipment) were most important for women and men alike, followed by the opportunity to work for the social good, financial rewards, mentor influence, and parental influence. However, a significantly higher proportion of men identified intrinsic behavioral motivation (p<.001), and significantly higher proportions of women identified mentor influence (p<.001) and parental influence (p<.05). Interestingly, there was no significant difference in proportions identifying social good.
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