Glimmers of hope for women in the male-dominated tech industry

Silhouette of businesswoman using laptop computer in the office.

When Christine Betts arrived at the University of Washington in 2016, she planned to study economics. After an introductory computer-science course inspired her, she changed her mind. 

Betts joins growing ranks of women at influential schools entering the software field. The numbers at some colleges offer a glimmer of hope in an otherwise male-dominated industry. At Betts’s school, as well as Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, women represent about a third of computer-science students. It’s hardly gender parity, but the numbers are higher than they were five years ago.