Caption: Attrition Rate of Women (bold curve) and Men (solid curve) Ph.D. Students. The horizontal reference lines (dotted) shows the means of 27.2% for women and 25.8% for men. The difference is not statistically significant. However, one statistically significant difference that this graph does not bring out is that women are more likely than men to leave for voluntary reasons (as contrasted to involuntary reasons, like failing the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam). Of the 29 men who left, 16 left voluntarily - about 55%. Of the 20 women who left, 17 left voluntarily - about 85%. (This plot was not is the original report. I added it on 09/20/02 at the request of Robin Bell - Bill Menke). Tablular Data. Figure in PostScript format.