Women may be smashing through the glass ceiling in corporate America more often, but they still face tough obstacles as entrepreneurs. Despite record numbers of women with business school degrees and high-powered resumes, women-owned firms win less than 5 percent of U.S. government contracts and venture capital in the U.S.

The federal government aims to help level the playing field at the upcoming Conference on Women Entrepreneurship in the 21^st Century in Washington, D.C. Organized by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Department of Labor and Public Forum Institute, the free event on March 19 and 19 will feature speakers including Small Business Administration chief Hector Barreto and Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.

"It takes money to start a business," says Barbara Kasoff, president and co-founder of GrassRoots Impact, Inc., the public policies strategies firm that is managing the event. "Women need to be able to have the access to proper funding. The research out there says women still have difficulty getting the same kinds of loans as banks and lending institutions. They're still forced to get startup capital through credit cards and friends and relatives."

Other speeches and panel discussions at the conference will range from the need for affordable health insurance to achieving work-life balance. President George W. Bush has been invited to speak but organizers won't confirm the participation of any elected officials for security reasons.

Conference organizers expected about 900 participants to show up for the gathering at the Reagan Building and International Trade Center, but so far, 1,900 people have registered. Seats have since been arranged for 1,200 people; the others have been put on a waiting list. For those who can't attend, the event will be Webcast at www.women-21.com.

There were about 9 million women-owned businesses in the U.S., and 11.4 million owned by men in 1997, according to the most recent Census Bureau statistics. But women are now starting businesses at a rate of about two-to-one compared to men, notes Ed Grocholski, a spokesman for the Public Forum Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that organizes Congressional forums for constituents. And that pace is picking up, he says: "When you have a slowdown in the economy, you see a burst in entrepreneurship.

Because of their growing numbers, women-owned businesses will be increasingly important to the economic recovery, Chao said in a prepared statement. "As Secretary of Labor, I see firsthand that women-owned businesses are driving our economy by producing more and more jobs for American workers. These women are vital to our nation's prosperity."