One step forward, more steps back for women on the small screen: the latest Boxed In report from San Diego State University’s Dr. Martha Lauzen says that more females showed up as contestants on reality programs and game shows than on series during the 2022-23 season.
Women made up 50 percent of the contestants but only 43 percent of characters on comedy and drama series. The study released today tracked over 3,500 characters and more than 4,500 behind-the-scenes credits on both the broadcast networks and streamers.
When it came to inclusivity, the percentage of Black female characters declined from 27 percent in 2021-22 to to 23 percent in 2022-23. The percentage of Latinas remained steady at a (mere) 7 percent.
Regardless of the platform, the report says, female characters experienced a “steep decline” in numbers as they age from their 30s to their 40s. On the broadcast nets, the percentage of major female characters dropped from 47 percent in their 30s to 14 percent in their 40s. The drop was from 38 percent to 17 percent on the streamers.
Another little factoid that should surprise no one: women 60 and over continue to be “dramatically underrepresented.” Those women made up just 3% of major female characters on broadcast and 4% on streaming.
“The percentage of female characters hasn’t changed substantially on broadcast TV in over a decade,” said Lauzen, the executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in TV and Film at SDSU. “In 2007-08, females comprised 43 percent of all characters. In 2022-23, females accounted for 44 percent of all characters. The story is much the same for streamers. Females accounted for 44 percent of characters in 2016-17 and 45 percent in 2022-23.”
Behind the camera, 32 percent of those working on both scripted and reality fare were women. But scripted series were more likely to hire female directors versus unscripted programs while women in general were more likely to work for unscripted shows versus scripted ones.
Women were also more likely to be employed as producers on unscripted programs (47%) than on scripted programs (41%). In other roles, the differences were slight for creators (26% scripted, 25% unscripted), executive producers (33% scripted, 34% unscripted), editors (20% scripted, 19% unscripted), and directors of photography (6% scripted, 5% unscripted).
Over the last 26 years — from 1997-98 through 2022-23 — the SDSU study has monitored over 56,500 characters and more than 70,000 behind-the-scenes credits as a way to monitor women’s representation and employment in TV.