The college retention rates for underrepresented minorities (URM) in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) are lower than other groups. One reason may be that the studies often do not view premature departure from a cultural perspective. This exploratory investigation focused on developing an instrument that employed a cultural perspective to detect differences based on racial/ethnic group affiliation. The instrument derived from the literature is examined using principal components analysis in an attempt to discover the underlying constructs and identify meaningful variables. Multivariate analysis was used for comparing groups. A description of the study is presented and its application with a sample of underrepresented minorities from 15 public and private universities in Ohio. (Contains 6 tables.)