The shortage of engineering talent leads to a loss in economic output. This shortagecombat has to be fought on several fronts, one of them is attracting and retaining more currently underrepresented students. This paper discusses the need to improve a sense of belonging and to increase professional awareness, or the understanding of the different roles an engineer can take on, in order to increase diversity in engineering. Based on an extensive literature review an overview is given of previous research on this topic from an interdisciplinary perspective. Research has shown that professional identity development has high impact on persistence and study success. Although identity development is a hot topic in engineering education research, several studies indicate that engineering students still have difficulties in grasping what it is to be an engineer and often fall back upon the rather stereotypical, harsh technological, male image. However, research also shows that it is important for students to know what to expect and value in order to develop feelings of belonging or fit. The former European project PREFER has developed promising tools in this regard. However, these tools have not been tested regarding inclusiveness. The paper also outlines the next steps that will be taken by the authors as part of an interdisciplinary project URGENT to increase attractiveness and retention of underrepresented groups in engineering education. This URGENT project proceeds on the outcomes of the PREFER project and will focus on the attraction and retention of female students and students with a migration background.