What are AT&T, Apple and Intel doing to get more women into mobile development?

Caroline Lewko, the CEO of Wireless Industry Partnership, a company that supports mobile developers, estimates that women make up less than 10 percent of mobile developers and the figure is slowly growing -- and she's happy about that. However, Lewko's joy around a 10 percent figure underscores a serious lack of female participation in developing, and a serious optimism about changing that statistic. While exact numbers are almost impossible to nail down, industry women are pointing to an increase in the number of women in developing and the opportunities offered to them, thanks in large part to women-oriented programs at a growing list of major companies, including AT&T, Intel and Apple. 

Companies and women-centric meetups are working to change the industry by creating a culture that's female-friendly. IOSDevCamp, a three-day independent iOS hackathon, has seen steady growth in the participation of women over its nine year tenure. By organizers Dominic Sagolla and Jennifer Holmes' estimation, the camp was 25 percent female in 2015, up from 20 percent the previous year and 15 percent in 2013. Meanwhile, AT&T, whose Women in Tech program has drawn accolades from female developers, has seen participation spike since introducing female-focused events a few years ago. For more on what the industry is doing to attract female developers, check out this FierceDeveloper special report.