If they are going on to internships and research projects, it is likely they have discovered their vocation, just a few years late. Perhaps the hoodwinking is

If they are going on to internships and research projects, it is likely they have discovered their vocation, just a few years late. Perhaps the hoodwinking is that it creates a false perception that the workplace which is ~85% male will be as welcoming as the educational environment, which for Harvey Mudd is 50/50. This HBR report is pretty brutal and eye opening on how women engineers are treated in the workplace. Not so much blatant rude sexual discrimination (though there some of that), but persistent pernicious subtle degradation and diminution. https://hbr.org/2016/08/why-do-so-many-women-who-study-engineering-leave-the-field https://hbr.org/2016/08/why-do-so-many-women-who-study-engin... We found that these work sites echoed the gender stereotyping experienced in school projects: men were assigned interesting problem-solving tasks where they could develop their analytic and technical skills, while women were often assigned jobs sorting papers, copying, collecting equipment, writing notes, and coordinating—tasks they felt did not value or cultivate their skills. This second round of gender stereotyping in the workplace, coupled with unchallenging projects, blatant sexual harassment, and greater isolation from supportive networks, leads many female students to revisit their ambitions.