Women have made significant strides in the television industry, but recently, their gains on both sides of the camera have slowed.
Women made up 27 percent of all individuals working as creators, directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors and directors of photography on broadcast networks in 2013-14, according to a new report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film obtained by Deadline. The number represented a one percent drop from last year.
The same statistic clicked down two percentage points for women working on broadcast, cable and Netflix series in the behind-the-scenes roles. It also marked a one percent dip from last year.
In both categories, women fared better as producers (43 percent for broadcast and 40 percent for all). The number decreased by almost half or more for women in all other areas of production.
"Whereas we were seeing slow but incremental growth over the last two decades, in the last five years or so it appears that women's employment has stalled both on screen and behind the scenes," Martha Lauzen, executive director at the center, told Variety.
In front of the camera, 42 percent of all speaking characters and 42 percent of major characters were female on broadcast last season. The numbers skewed two percent less for each when it came to all roles on broadcast, cable and Netflix.
ABC carried the highest percentage of female characters (44 percent), followed by CBS, Fox, CW and NBC all within five percentage points. The alphabet network will probably retain the ranking next year with its Thursday night line-up featuring three shows starring a woman (and all created by Shonda Rhimes).
Women saw a dip in the numbers for all the positions compared to the 2012-13 season, according to the study.
