As technology jobs become more mainstream, hiring practices are dramatically shifting. One of the biggest shifts is that women have eclipsed men in technology hiring. Through September of this year, 60% of the 39,000 technology jobs filled were filled by a woman. Over the past ten years of tracking, men have been hired for the majority of open positions in every other year.

Women still have significant ground to make up, however. Women still hold only just under one third of technology jobs, and this number has remained stable over the last decade. Women also continue to earn less than men and make only about 80% of what men in similar positions make.

Many experts believe that these statistics are about to improve. They point to women holding key positions such as CEO at Yahoo, COO at Facebook, and CEO at IBM as signs that change is coming in the near future. Ex-Google executive Marissa Mayer has publicly expressed frustration with the lack of female hires.

It seems that female hiring will certainly expand in the near future, even if it is only because the volume of job openings force it. With the rapid growth of the technology sector, the most obvious place from which to fill the gap is hiring more women. As hiring expands, more women will be aware early in their schooling that it is possible for them to make a career in the technology sector. This will only increase the number of qualified candidates and lead to even more female hiring.

As technology hiring expands, hiring practices will need to shift. While startups formed by college friends that hire one or two of their school’s alumni each year will likely continue to play a large role in the sector, large corporations will cover an increasing share of the market. These corporations will see more openings and more applicants, and they will also be trying to fill specific needs instead of looking for someone that can do it all.

A strong job applicant tracking system can help these large companies sort through this increased volume of hiring work. When a candidate makes an initial application, human resources can input their data and perform initial screening. As a candidate moves through the selection process, upper level managers can easily monitor their process within the system to search for candidates that match their needs. If a strong candidate isn’t the best match for a specific position, another department will be able to review their profile to see if they could use the candidate.