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Women and people of color are significantly underrepresented among television writers in 2017-2018, the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) recently discovered in its first-ever Inclusion Report Card.
The study, released on Monday, found that women made up just 36% of working television writers, while people of color made up 27%. These numbers come despite the two groups representing 51% and 39%, respectively, of the U.S. population at large.
The WGA also examined race and gender by staffing level, finding that equal representation decreases as you move up the latter. In 2018, only 24% of showrunner roles and 17% of executive producers were held by women, and only 12% of writers at both levels were held by people of color.
Digging deeper into other types of representation, the study also analyzed writers over the age of 50, people with disabilities, and those who self-identified as LGBTQ. Although all three groups face some level of discrimination, disabled individuals, who make up less than one percent of all writers, suffer the most.
Despite the lack of representation for female and minority groups, progress has been made over the last decade. Employment on television series has doubled, as female representation has increased from 30% of the workforce to 35% and people of color have increased from 17% to 27%.
WGAW ended their report with a call to action, urging all studios and showrunners to continue being part of the solution by improving upon 2018’s numbers in the 2019 TV staffing season.
“With honesty, accountability, and continued effort, we can end unfair discrimination against writers and increase inclusion and equality across our industry,” WGAW concluded.
[Image courtesy of Deadline]
READ MORE: Writers Guild of America West Inclusion Report