In an effort to identify distinguishing characteristics of the increasing numbers of women entering engineering programs, a survey was made of 1,680 selected engineering freshmen at 42 schools. The 230-question survey required male and female students to respond to multiple-choice items covering their family and educational background, study habits, social life and extracurricular activities, work experience, political views, personality traits, financial status, career attitudes, factors influencing choice of curriculum, and future educational plans. Response data were weighted in order to adjust the sample to represent all students in the population and to adjust for student nonresponse. Specific questions were analyzed in cases where (1) there were empirical reasons to expect differences between the responses of men and women and (2) the questions seemed important for engineering education as a whole. The greatest differences appeared in items concerning most important reason for selecting an engineering curriculum, field within the curriculum, immediate career plans, reading interests, and attitude toward the role of women. (AV)