Every year on February 11, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated. The event was established in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly, and aims to promote the full and equal participation of women in scientific and technological fields. It is not merely a symbolic observance, but an opportunity to reflect on the extent to which women’s contributions to science have historically been undervalued, overlooked, or attributed to others.
The history of science has long been marked by erasure, with many women working on the margins of official recognition, despite playing a decisive role in the development of disciplines now considered central. A striking example is that of the six programmers of the ENIAC, the first large electronic digital computer, presented exactly eighty years ago in February. While the hardware was celebrated as a triumph of male engineering, the work of those who actually made the machine operational remained in the shadows for decades. The six women, whose names are Frances “Betty” Holberton, Kathleen “Kay” Antonelli McNulty, Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer, Ruth Lichterman Teitelbaum, Frances Bilas Spence, and Jean Jennings Bartik, were the first programmers in history. They wrote programs without high-level languages, without manuals, and often without even being able to test the code except directly on the machine. They invented procedures, logic, and debugging methods that form the basis of modern computing, yet they were not invited to the official ENIAC presentation in 1946 and for years were described, at best, as mere assistants.
The story of the ENIAC programmers is also one of coexistence and solidarity in an America marked by social, cultural, and religious divisions. Marlyn Wescoff and Ruth Lichterman were Jewish, Betty Snyder a Quaker, Kay McNulty Catholic, and Jean Jennings a Protestant. These differences helped strengthen the bond, rather than creating distance between them. The young women shared breaks, conversations, and mutual curiosities. In addition, they exchanged stories about customs, holidays, and beliefs, which enriched their human connection alongside their professional collaboration. In a male-dominated environment with its rigid hierarchies, this plurality became a form of alliance–a space for listening and mutual support.
This relational dimension is far from marginal as it shows that work for women was never only about technique or calculation, but also about cooperation, trust, and the exchange of knowledge and experience.
In addition, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science serves to remind us that scientific progress has been built by far more people than textbooks have recorded, and that recognising women’s contributions means rewriting a history that is truer, more complete, and fairer as well. (r.p.)