Including a short interview with Lean In Hellas
𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝘾𝙞𝙧𝙘𝙡𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 – 𝙈𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝘿𝙧. 𝙀𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙖 𝘽𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙨𝙤𝙪
Scientist & Project Manager
Tell us a bit about yourself:
I am a scientist, consultant and advocate for women in STEM. My work focuses on how the human brain and other distributed systems, like neural networks, are able to understand, process and produce language. I hold a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from Bangor University, UK and I I currently work as a Speech Scientist & Project Manager in the AI industry in Greece, where I optimise algorithms in voice-user interfaces to understand human language better and create more natural interactions between people and machines.
Something you’re really proud of?
Founding Greek Girls Code, a social initiative and enterprise aiming to support Greek women’s work and activities in science, research and technology. We organise weekly Twitter takeovers by Greek female scientists, in which they showcase their work and day-to-day activities, workshops with tips for early career programmers, mentoring for young women interested in pursuing a STEM career and interviews with early career researchers, highlighting their work and achievements. Greek Girls Code makes me feel that so many different voices of Greek women in science and technology are heard!
What biases or barriers have you faced in your career?
Being the only woman in the room can often be intimidating. Sometimes I had to navigate the fine line of being professional and being an expert in my field and being liked. Women in STEM are often misrepresented, mansplained and underestimated. We need to admit that gender bias is real and we should all take actions to make sure everyone’s voice is heard.
Your fav tip to empower fellow Greek women in tech!
Empowered women will always empower women. Make sure you try to offer back to the younger generation as much as possible and never forger to look at those who came before you, to see that despite the challenges, they made it!