Indeed, and the self-serving reply given to the author when he tried to do something about a similar situation ("some people just can't hack it in engineering")

Indeed, and the self-serving reply given to the author when he tried to do something about a similar situation ("some people just can't hack it in engineering") suggests a vicious cycle in which the survivors of this process might well believe that this attitude has been vindicated by the process they themselves have been through. It is not hard to imagine this leading into the casual acceptance of the idea that people of the "wrong" gender, ethnicity or social status are inherently among those who just can't hack it, and it is suggestive of some of the techniques used by cults in indoctrinating new members.