5 women busting through the tech industry's glass ceiling

Marissa Mayer and Sheryl Sandberg aren't the only ones leaning in

Tech ladies
(Image credit: Thinkstock/iStockphoto)

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg were catapulted into the spotlight when they scored two of the top positions in Silicon Valley — though the tech industry is still largely dominated by men who look like Mark Zuckerberg.

Last year's Fortune 500 list featured just four women CEOs working at tech companies in the top 100, and far fewer women than men are taking on jobs as coders, venture capitalists, and tech entrepreneurs. Experts have pointed to Silicon Valley's "brogrammer" culture and a lack of female role models as contributing to the problem — but women are managing to make huge contributions to the field anyway. A look at five women who are helping pave the way for the next generation of female coders:

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Dana Liebelson is a reporter for Mother Jones. A graduate of George Washington University, she has worked for a variety of advocacy organizations in the District, including the Project on Government Oversight, International Center for Journalists, Rethink Media, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and Change.org. She speaks Mandarin and German and plays violin in the D.C.-based Indie rock band Bellflur.