Albany, N.Y. ? After making gains in the ranks of state-level policy-makers, the percentage of women holding such positions fell in the past two years, a university research group said.

In 1999 women held 29.8 percent of leadership posts appointed by governors. That number rose to 35 percent in 2001, but then dropped to 32 percent two years later, according to a report released Thursday by the Center for Women in Government & Civil Society at the University at Albany.

“The glacial rate of change is discouraging,” said Judith Saidel, the study’s project director. “Gubernatorial appointees across the country do not look like the people they are serving.”

Massachusetts came out on top with 50 percent of its policy posts in the hands of women. At the other end of the scale was New Hampshire, where just 15.2 percent of those jobs were held by women, the center said.

Five states — Massachusetts, Oregon, Florida, Iowa and Missouri — had nearly the same percentage of women in the state population as in top policy-making jobs. Kansas ranked No. 6.

“We’ve come a long way, but this report reveals that we have a long way to go in attracting and retaining women in executive level positions,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said. “I’m also very concerned about the pay that women receive compared with men since they still earn only 76 cents for every dollar men earn in comparable positions.”

Clinton’s state of New York ranked 32nd on the list with 30.8 percent of the top policy positions held by women. California ranked 24th, with 32.4 percent and Texas was 28th, with 30.9 percent.

The number of top staff adviser positions in governors’ offices shrank by about 16 percent from 2001 to 2003, reflecting part of the reason for the decline for women, the study said.

Women accounted for 38.2 percent of the top advisers to governors in 2001, down from 38.9 percent in 1999. Eight states, including Kansas, have governors who are women — five Democrats and three Republicans.

Policy leaders counted in the study include heads of state agencies, departments and offices, as well as top advisers such as press secretaries, chiefs of staff and legal advisers.

“As a woman who had a reasonably high-level management position in state government, I’d certainly like to see more women in positions of power and responsibility,” said Barbara Zaron, president of the Organization of New York State Management Confidential Employees, the union representing state managers. “But we find women not reaching top levels in lots of levels our society nowadays.”