There seem to be two concurrent drivers there -- first, that Mideast terrorism tended to attract young men who lacked economic and social opportunities despite

There seem to be two concurrent drivers there -- first, that Mideast terrorism tended to attract young men who lacked economic and social opportunities despite being credentialed, and, second, that engineering disciplines are overrepresented amongst persons holding rigid and authoritarian beliefs (a replicated finding, but it should be stressed that this does not indicate that most engineers are authoritarians!). See, e.g., Gambetta and Hertog, "Engineers of Jihad" (2018: Princeton University Press).