Lovpreet Hansra is an undergraduate student who codes.

When she came to California State University Long Beach for a special event, the classroom was a little different than what she’s used to.

“Most of my classes, it’s like maybe 70 to 80 percent guys,” said Hansra.

Female students were brought to Long Beach to fix that imbalance, if only for a few moments.

The women-centered nonprofit Catalyst found in 2016 that women held about a quarter of the computer and mathematical jobs in America. Women are generally a minority when it comes to math and science. This is especially true for women of color.

At CSULB, women from all over Southern California learned from each other. Each group was given a problem to solve. At the end of three days they shared what they accomplished.

“It’s hard to be a woman in the scientific field. There’s a lot of challenges that we have to overcome,” said Echelle Burns, a graduate student.

A $35,000 Google grant brought them all together; passion keeps them programming.