Book excerpt: As apps, online shopping, and automated services expand in scope, software engineering, the development, operation, and maintenance of software, is a career growing in scope and salary. While "software development" may initially evoke images of a high-tech computer lab, in reality, software engineering is a growing part of many industries, and the workplaces and those working in them are equally diverse. This book provides a young women's guide to breaking her way into a traditionally male-dominated industry. Chapters cover the industry at large, possible career paths, and the preparation tech girls can undertake in middle school, high school, and college to lay the foundations for engineering. With a special focus on women in STEM, this volume also addresses the job hunt and the unique difficulties women may face in the workplace, such as pay disparity or derogatory remarks and behavior, and gives readers tools to confront and report such unacceptable practices.