Noel King

A Q&A with Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia University and coiner of the term "net neutrality."

Kathryn Finney, the founder of DigitalUndivided, says for people of color, networking can be a stumbling block. "We're not part of those networks," Finney said.

But people who work in tech say helping others break in is only part of the solution. Leigh Honeywell, a security engineer, administrator of the Geek Feminism wiki, and member of Double Union, a feminist hacker space, said women who make it through the pipeline and get jobs in tech are confronted by a culture that can be downright sexist.

"It's really not cool to be encouraging all of these young girls and young people of color to enter a field where they are going to face discrimination," said Honeywell. "It's up to those of us that are here, both men and women to encourage attitude changes."