From: Mary Barnes [mary(_dot_)ietf(_dot_)barnes(_at_)gmail(_dot_)com]
Here is an article that does a far better job of explaining the
situation than I did:
http://www.todaysengineer.org/2011/May/women-in-engineering.asp
The largest reason women leave engineering is due to the work
environment and perceived lack of support from colleagues.
Even the summary of the study that is given in the article is a
fascinating read, with a lot of information on the subject that I've
never seen before.
Who would have expected:
The study also found that 15 percent of women who earn undergraduate
degrees in engineering never entered the profession at all. Many of
them went on to enter the legal or medical professions or other fields
where their engineering education served them well.
The full study is at:
http://www.studyofwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/NSF_Women-Full-Report-0314.pdf
That link appears to be broken. The link that worked for me is:
http://studyofwork.com/files/2011/03/NSF_Women-Full-Report-0314.pdf
Ned