Three women professionals, guests of the Women in Science at Harvard-Radcliffe (WISHR), spoke last night about the excitement of working in science-related businesses.

About 20 students gathered yesterday evening in the Quincy JCR for a dinner discussion on alternative career choices for women in the sciences.

The three panelists--Mara G. Aspinall, president of the pharmaceutical division of the Genzyme Corporation, Maria Zapf, who works at Boston Life Sciences Incorporated, and Katya H. Mariz, the Product Strategy manager at Safe Science--each outlined different paths to their business careers. All three now work for companies that produce products through advanced scientific research.

Only Zapf, a former biochemistry major at Boston University, studied science in college.

Aspinall studied law and went into business, and Mariz holds a degree in English literature.

All three worked in business right after college, instead of entering traditional science fields.

"If you're not having fun, move on," Zapf said, encouraging the students to follow their hearts, rather than automatically entering traditional careers like research or medicine.

"Lots of people change tracks midway in their career," Aspinall added.

According to Zapf, it can be difficult to find jobs in biotechnology.

Many biotechnology firms are often too small to have a personnel department and are looking for people with experience in a particular field, she said.

Mariz said this should not discourage undergraduate science majors from considering careers in business.

Specific types of knowledge are not always necessary for such work, only critical thinking skills that students can learn in any concentration, she added.

The three panelists encouraged the audience to consider science-related businesses, where women are often underrepresented.

"You will meet glass ceilings sometimes," Aspinall said. But the panelists added that opportunities are readily available for women.

Science majors in the audience said the panel opened their eyes to careers in business.

The discussion "opened up what is possible within a science major," Lin Gan '00 said, describing the panelists as "three very successful women who know what they want."

Sue H. Kim '02, one of the panel's organizers, praised the panelists, saying they are not "orthodox people." They were "people who took the unusual path" in arriving at their current jobs, she said.