EW YORK - Although women made record gains in some of the nation's highest offices in this year's elections, their numbers slipped in legislatures and in other state offices, raising worries about the training ground for future leaders.
In January, more women will sit in Congress and in governor's offices than ever before, with women governors in Delaware and Montana for the first time, and Hillary Clinton serving as a US senator from New York.
But in state legislatures and statewide elected offices, their numbers actually fell slightly after 30 years of steady gains.
Lawmakers and scholars who hope to see women in elected office reflect their proportion of the population are concerned. Besides crafting and managing policy, they say, legislators and officials at the state level prove their mettle for bigger jobs.
''We're not just losing numbers, we're also losing leadership and experience,'' said Deborah Walsh, director of the Center for the American Woman and Politics at Rutgers University.
The change is slight. There will be 1,658 women state lawmakers in office next year, down 12 from the 1,670 who held office this year. Women elected to statewide office, including governor, also dropped slightly, to 88 from 92.
The gains in higher offices were prominently reported. Clinton and at least two other women will be joining the US Senate, bringing the number to a record of 12, or 13 if Maria Cantwell holds a narrow recount lead over incumbent Slade Gorton in Washington state. In the House, women increased their numbers from 56 to 59, another record. And five women governors, the most ever, will serve in 2001.
But on the state level, the stagnation is a break in a decades-long trend. In 1969, 301 women served in legislatures, making up about 4 percent of the total. That grew to 10 percent by 1979 and to 17 percent by 1989. In 1992, which came to be called the ''year of the woman'' because of a number of high-profile election victories, the numbers jumped to 21 percent. The new numbers are just over 22 percent, down from 22.5 percent.
Considering that women make up half the nation, ''the numbers are still quite small,'' said Pennsylvania state Senator Allyson Schwartz, who spent 10 years in the state Legislature and this year unsuccessfully sought election to the US Senate. ''We have a ways to go.''
''State legislatures are a pipeline,'' Walsh said. ''If you look at women who are in Congress and governor's offices now, a tremendous number were in state legislatures before.''
New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat who won a third term this month, served in the state Senate. Arizona Governor Jane Hull, a Republican, was the first woman speaker of the House in that state. The new US senator from Michigan, Democrat Debbie Stabenow, served in the state House and Senate. ''You get the experience and you do a serious job,'' said Hull, who didn't face reelection this year. ''That makes people much more comfortable in voting for you.''
Others followed different routes to office - Clinton, for instance, had never held public office. Neither had Jean Carnahan, who will fill the Senate seat of her husband, former governor Mel Carnahan, who was killed in a plane crash in the midst of his campaign.
Some think this year's drop in victories is only a temporary bump, while others see a significant problem, noting that there also were fewer candidates than in recent years.
''The excitement seems to be gone, the movement seems to be gone to some respect,'' said Nancy Brown, a former Kansas legislator who works with women lawmakers at the Women's Network. ''We were somewhat complacent, working with women who were in office rather than trying to find people to get there.''
Schwartz said the political parties don't always promote and encourage female candidates, and tend to fall back on traditional networks of men. She said it's important to reach out to other women candidates, providing advice and role models.
Delaware's governor-elect, Democrat Ruth Ann Minner, said women will increase their numbers in elected office as they branch out into the business world, which must come first because they are supporting their families.
''Now they've reached a comfortable level in business and finance they'll be moving towards elected office and giving back to the community,'' Minner said. She began her political career as a State House receptionist.
And as befits their widely different experiences and political views, these politicians see different results from women lawmakers and officials.
Women deserve some of the credit for the growing attention paid to education, welfare and other ''quote-unquote `women's issues,''' Hull said.
Minner said she doesn't recognize any distinction between men and women when it comes to issues, and she bristles at the idea that she was elected because of her gender.
''You know, I don't think it really matters to me that I'm a woman,'' she said. ''I've found out since the election, though, that it does matter to a lot of women. It matters to a lot of young girls.''
