This study investigated aptitude, achievement, and retention patterns among 273 women and 1,953 male students who entered engineering at The University of Texas at Austin as freshmen in the fall semesters of 1974–1977. Academic and attrition records were maintained through the fall of 1978 for the sample. Multiple regression techniques were used to predict both academic achievement and retention on the basis of college entrance scores and high school rank. In addition, first-year grade-point average was included as a predictor of retention. The Mathematics Achievement Test, Level I, emerged as primary predictor of cumulative grade-point average for both men and women, and first year grade-point average the best single predictor of retention for men, but combined with entrance scores for retention prediction among women. Academic performance was more easily predicted for women than men, but retention was more easily predicted for men. Female nonretainees in engineering score higher on all variables than male nonretainees, and female retainees make similar grades to male retainees. More capable women than men are transferring to other majors within the University, especially to the natural sciences. Unlike men, women leaving engineering and the University did not do so for academic failure. This study suggests that a support system developed to counsel women in engineering might contribute positively to their retention.