Software Developer Combines Technology Skills With Journalism in New Dual-Degree Program

Over the course of a six-year career designing online banking software for the British financial firm HSBC, Rashmi Raman would often find herself trolling the Columbia Journalism School website and dreaming of the possibilities. Back then, the idea that the 29-year-old programmer might actually quit her job in Bumi, India, and travel halfway around the globe to pursue a new career seemed beyond reach. Raman studied computer programming in college and had no formal journalism training. "I was always passionate about journalism," Raman says. "And I wanted to feel more involved—more committed to what I was going to be doing in the next few years. But I couldn't give up computer science entirely—I'm a bit of a geek. So I was hesitant to apply." Then one day, Raman discovered a fresh posting on the J-school website that changed everything: a new dual-degree program that allows students to obtain a joint master of science in computer science and journalism.