This work begins to highlight how students describe latent diversity and how those definitions influence who belongs in engineering. There were four takeaways from our work 1) Students recognize the advantages of increasing diversity in engineering, however, they are also aware of the preferred ways of being and thinking like an engineer; 2) The public perception of “what counts” as an engineer is bounded by the ideals of historical stereotypes and confirmed the notion that gender bias is ingrained in the culture; 3) Engineering students acknowledge and appreciate latent diversity because it enhances their learning experiences; 4) The student perception of “what counts” also included interests outside of curricular experiences. This work contributes to the STRIDE mission to understand “how diverse people develop identities as engineers and how their social identities impact their inclusion, persistence, and feelings of belongingness in engineering.” The STRIDE group congratulates the author team and looks forward to seeing this work at ASEE. Come join us on Monday, June 25, 2018 at 4:30 pm in Room 150 E.