As early as in the 5th century BC, women played an important role in the development of mathematics in Greece. A woman called Themistoclea was the one who introduced Pythagoras to the “philosophy of numbers”. When he founded the Pythagorean school, it was open to women, and his wife and daughters continued teaching at the school even after his death.

In the 4th century BC the astronomer and mathematician Aglaonike predicted eclipses of the Sun and the Moon and Hypatia, a brilliant mathematician of the era are only an indication of the great role played by the Greek women in science

Unfortunately, with the rise of the Roman Empire until modern times, the role of Greek women socially and institutionally was deteriorated and there was no more a reference about their participation in sciences.

A female name is again mentioned in STEM when in 1948 Maria Marketou-Pilarinou was offered a professorship at the Department of Natural Sciences at the University of Thessaloniki.

Fortunately, since then, the previously man-dominated area of ​​science has welcomed many women as equals. However we often don’t hear about their work as it can be hidden behind a great male-professor ‘s name who “supervised” their work, thus getting all the credit.

We are here to make sure that these patterns progressively become a thing of the past, as we nurture an inclusive future for all women in STEM fields.