REFACTOR CULTURE, NOT CODE: Thirty percent of Computer Science degrees at the University of Washington were awarded to women in 2014—a stat nearly twice the national average, but still, as Ed Lazowska, chairman in computer science and engineering at the university, puts it: “not great.” Still, the department is putting in serious effort to make its major more gender equitable. It recently offered a seminar on women and computing, and two in every five teaching assistants are female. For its efforts, UW will be receiving the inaugural grand prize NEXT award from the National Center for Women and Information Technology, which has strategically supported the computer science department in its recruitment and retention of women.
