More than half of Fortune 500 firms have more than one female corporate officer and two have women chief executive officers, according to a study by Catalyst, a research organization based in New York. Among the privately held firms that make up the Inc. 500, 8% are run by women. In addition, the Small Business Administration’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership reports that women own nearly 40% of all firms in the U.S. While some of these statistics may still seem woefully low, women executives are making strides in corporate America, and the Web has many career-related resources to assist them.

A good starting point for online information and resources for businesswomen is a directory-type site like Yahoo!. You also can search using a targeted directory such as Women.com.

While most directories include news, business, careers, and society and culture categories, women’s sites often cover additional topics, including health, money and financial planning and more focused career issues such as re-entering the workforce and work/life balance. You’re also likely to find job listings from employers targeting women applicants and links to other resources specifically for women, such as job banks and career information.

Networking Online

Many women’s sites also help you network by connecting you to other women in chat areas and forums.

"Networking keeps you in touch with those who can help you with your career and is the most effective means for creating opportunities for advancement and growth," says Jane Hardy, president of Career Resources Inc., a career counseling and outplacement firm in Nashville, Tenn. "Women help women, making a real effort to support each other professionally and personally."

Professional associations are other sources you can find online for developing networking contacts. Locating lists of associations and organizations isn’t difficult if you use such directories as the American Society of Association Executives or the Scholarly Societies Project. Yahoo! also maintains a list of professional organizations. These listings are keyword searchable, so if you’re targeting associations dedicated to women in specific fields -- Women in Technology International, for example -- use keywords such as "women," "woman," "feminist" or even "ladies" to locate them. You also can search for more general professional associations that can provide opportunities for networking, such as the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

If you find several associations for your field, you may have difficulty choosing among them. Frances Quittel, careers columnist for Computerworld and creator of the Careerbabe web site, suggests thinking about how much time you can devote to these organizations. "If you have limited time, then join the organization which will offer you the most opportunities for professional growth and advancement," says Ms. Quittel.

When looking for associations, also consider that women’s associations attract employers who are eager to recruit women. And while most associations offer professional development seminars through local chapters and national conferences, women’s organizations also may offer lifestyle and leadership seminars and mentoring programs. Women often cite mentoring as a factor in their career success.

Finding Employers

Everyone wants to find an employer who provides opportunities for growth and advancement. You could spend a lot of time researching individual employers, looking for evidence of family-friendly and other supportive policies and initiatives, but it’s easier to tap top-employer lists on the Web. Check Working Mother magazine’s annual "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers". There’s also Working Woman magazine’s "Top 25 Companies for Executive Women" as well as the "Working Woman 500," the top 500 women-owned businesses in the U.S.

You also may find helpful the "Most Admired Companies" and "100 Best Companies to Work For" lists, both from Fortune magazine.

Companies that are members or sponsors of women’s organizations may be good choices as well. Catalyst lists its corporate members on its web site, and membership in this organization is an indication of a company’s commitment to the professional development and advancement of women.

If the employer you’re considering isn’t listed on these sites, check if its women employees have moved up the corporate ladder. "If there are women in mid to senior levels, this could be a good indication that opportunities for advancement will be available to you, too," says Ms. Quittel.

Surfing for Pay and Perks

In 1998, Catalyst reported that top-earning women corporate officers earn 68 cents in salary and bonus to every dollar earned by top men. To minimize this disparity, "it’s important that [women] know not only what the going rates are for men in the industry at these levels, but that we also are aware of the bonuses and other perks which create the total compensation package," says Ms. Quittel.

The Internet offers an abundance of information. Begin by reviewing resources such as Working Woman magazine’s annual salary survey. Many professional associations also collect salary information and publish it on their Web sites. JobStar links to more than 150 surveys for various industries and disciplines.

However, base salaries are just part of the compensation picture. A total compensation package includes other payments, perquisites and benefits, including stock options, severance packages, paid travel for a spouse or a chauffeur and limousine. Such executive compensation information can be found in the proxy statements that publicly held companies are required to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on form DEF 14A. These are available through the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (EDGAR) system.

To find these documents, use the EDGAR Quick Forms Lookup, select either DEF or 14 from the list of forms and enter a company name in the box. Select the most recent DEF 14A from the list and use the "find" command in your web browser to search for the word "compensation."

For more information about executive compensation packages, check the WorldatWork web site. It devotes a section to executive compensation, which includes articles from its publications and links to other reports and resources. You also can review information from the Employee Benefit Research Institute and articles on executive compensation from Forbes magazine.

Another important aspect of compensation is being able to negotiate and ask for what you want. Researching salary and compensation issues will build your confidence "because you’ll have the ammunition you need to support your request," says Ms. Hardy.

-- Ms. Riley Dikel is an Internet job-search and recruiting consultant in Rockville, Md., and creator of "The Riley Guide," a directory of Internet job-search services. She is also an author of "The Guide to Internet Job Searching" (1998, NTC/VGM Career Horizons Publishing).