Teresa Bertino was among the first women to embark on an academic career at the Polytechnic University of Turin.
After completing her studies at the Istituto Tecnico Sommeiller, she enrolled at the Polytechnic University of Turin and graduated in Civil Engineering with top honors in 1914.

World War I and mandatory male conscription temporary opened access for women to professions that had previously been closed to them on the gender basis.
Between 1915 and 1917, she served as an assistant in the Mineralogy and Geology department, appointed by Professor Silvestri to replace two colleagues who had left for the front during the First World War.

Upon their return, in 1922 she was transferred from Mineralogy to the Hydraulics department, continuing to demonstrate her academic skill and expertise. In 1923, she became an assistant and later a course aide in Hydraulics and Hydraulic Machines, contributing with passion and competence to her discipline.

However, her significant achievements did not secure her a stable career at the Polytechnic. Following a period of leave, the director of her faculty decided to dismiss her, citing the need to appoint a man to a role that required manual work deemed too strenuous for a woman.
This incident illustrates the tendency to exclude women from jobs considered “male” based on assumptions of physical inadequacy despite high professional competence.

Her dedication and service during the First World War earned her the Silver Medal of the Green Cross and a Certificate of Merit from the Ministry for her work as a nurse in a military hospital from 1915 to 1917 This recognition reflects both her commitment beyond academia and the fact that women’s contributions were more readily acknowledged in traditionally “feminine” roles.