Men Receive 78% of Non-Acting Oscar Nominations Over Last 17 Years with Slow, Uneven Progress for Women - Women of Color Were Just 2% of Writing, Directing Nominees

Full report: WMC Investigation: 17-Year Analysis of Gender & Non-Acting Academy Award Nominations

Infographic: WMC Investigation: 17-Year Analysis of Gender & Non-Acting Academy Award Nominations

Interactive graphic: WMC Investigation: 17-Year Analysis of Gender & Non-Acting Academy Award Nominations

Men have received 78% of non-acting Oscar nominations over the past 17 years and women 22%, according to an analysis by the Women’s Media Center. 



The report, “WMC Investigation: 17-Year Analysis of Gender & Non-Acting Academy Award Nominations,” concludes that there have been modest improvements in female representation from 2007 to 2023 but also that progress has been slow and uneven.

In 2007, 19% (30) of nominees in behind-the-scenes roles were women, and 81% (126) were men. In 2023, 27% (57) of nominees in the 18 non-acting categories (which include writing, directing, producing, and editing) were women, and 73% (157) were men — an increase for women of 7 percentage points.

People of color ­— who are 43% of the U.S. population ­— represent only 16% of nominations for the directing and writing categories for the entire time span. Women of color were just 2% of nominees in these categories. White women were 11% of the nominations; white men were 73%.


“Over 17 years, women have accounted for a total of only 22% of non-acting nominations. At this rate, it will take decades for women to reach parity behind the scenes,” said Julie Burton, WMC President and CEO. “Our findings are further indication that while women, who are more than half of the population, are producing extraordinary work, they too often are not nominated for these coveted awards which translate into power and opportunity in Hollywood. There remains a stubborn, persistent inequality with respect to gender and race.”

The report notes that the rise of activism for greater inclusion of and visibility for women and people of color in the industry, including initiatives such as #OscarsSoWhite and #MeToo, have put public pressure on decision makers in Hollywood. This has resulted in upticks in Oscar nominations for women in a few categories where women’s representation had been next to nothing: Directing, Cinematography, Writing, Original Song, and Animated Feature.

“The mobilization of advocacy groups, organizations, and social movements has been instrumental in boosting the visibility and recognition of women and people of color,” said WMC Co-Founder Gloria Steinem. “Their efforts have been successful in forcing the film industry to change — so we need to keep going.”

Over the 17 years, women made small advances in representation among nominations in nearly every category, with the exceptions of Original Screenplay, Production Design, and Documentary Short. In all other categories women on average made gains over time, and in some cases those changes were significant. For instance, all three categories that had zero nominations for women between 2007 and 2015 — Visual Effects, Cinematography, and Original Score — saw one or more nominations for women between 2016 and 2023. Cinematography has seen three female nominees within the past six years, after no women received nominations in the category during the first 89 years of the Academy Awards. 



Women saw modest gains in the Best Director category, going from a lone female nominee (2%) out of 47 nominations in the period of 2007–2015 to four female nominees out of 41 (10%) in 2016–2023, with two going on to win the Oscar. Yet, in the last 17 years, 6% (five) of the nominees for Directing have been women, and 94% (83) have been men.

In the Director category, women remain well behind their male counterparts, who completely dominated the nominations in the category in 2023. After two straight years of women filmmakers winning Best Director, women were shut out from nominations this year, despite an abundance of films directed by women on offer.

“The Academy continues to overlook highly acclaimed films directed by women, especially women of color,” notes WMC Board Chair Janet Dewart Bell. “This year the Academy incredibly did not recognize the excellence of two Black women directors: Gina Prince-Bythewood for The Woman King and Chinonye Chukwu for Till.” 



In the Director category, of the 88 total nominees over 17 years, there have been 75% (66) white men, 19% (17) men of color (five Black men, five Asian men, six Hispanic men, and one multiracial man), 5% (4) white women, and only 1% (one) women of color (Asian).



For the 17-year period, women comprised 26% of the producers nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, men 74%. Overall, an increasing number of women producers have been nominated over time, largely because of the expansion in the number of Best Picture nominations, but gains have been modest, increasing from 23% in the period of 2007–2015 to 28% in 2016–2023. The percentage of Best Picture producing nominations going to women reached a high of 39% in 2020, but in the years since it has gone down, to 30% in 2021 and 28% in 2022, despite the fact that the Best Picture winners in both 2021 and 2022 were directed by women. This year 21% of Best Picture nominees were women, marking a downward trend for three consecutive years.

Despite the dismal showing for women over the years for Best Picture, Jane Fonda, WMC Co-Founder, said she is excited for the women who received nominations in 2023. “Congratulations to Dede Gardner, Frances McDormand, Alexandra Milchan, Kristie Mascosko Krieger, Catherine Martin, and Gail Berman for their Best Picture nominations. We at the Women’s Media Center are proud of their excellent achievements.”

In the writing categories, between 2007 and 2023, 13% (17) of the nominees for Writing (Original Screenplay) were women, and 87% (116) were men; 15% (23) of those nominated for Writing (Adapted Screenplay) were women and 85% (128) were men. Women have improved their numbers in the Adapted Screenplay category over time, going from 10% in the period of 2007–2015 to 21% in 2016–2023.

Although women of color continue to be underrepresented in the Screenplay categories, there was an increase over time, going from obtaining zero nominations in Adapted Screenplay between 2007 and 2015 to three nominations (3%) between 2016 and 2023.

“Women, and people of color, are consistently underrepresented in Original Screenplay,” said Helen Zia, WMC’s Co-Chair Emerita. “In fact, these numbers are trending down. This is regress, not progress.”



“The fact that women of color have been only 2% of nominees in the writing and directing categories over 17 years and that not one woman is nominated this year for best director speaks loudly about the composition and mindset of the voting members of the Academy and the impact of well-financed campaigns to draw votes,” said Erica González Martínez, WMC Board Vice Chair. “With progress at a snail’s pace, the Academy is cooperating with white male-dominated Hollywood’s interest in using women as consumers but restricting their presence and recognition in the industry.”

Other highlights from the report:

DIRECTING



· Only one woman of color, Chloé Zhao, who is Asian, has won the Oscar for directing.

· Only one woman was nominated for directing between 2007 and 2015; overall, only five women in Academy Award history have been nominated for directing.

• Overall, from 2007 to 2023, only 20% of Best Director nominations have gone to people of color (19% to men of color; only 1% to women of color).

WRITING

· Between 2007 and 2023, 13% (17) of the nominees for Writing (Original Screenplay) were women, and 87% (116) were men; 15% (23) of those nominated for Writing (Adapted Screenplay) were women and 85% (128) were men. Women have improved their numbers in the Adapted Screenplay category over time, going from 10% in the period of 2007–2015 to 21% in 2016–2023.

• Hispanic/Latino nominees have had 4% of nominations in the Directing and Writing categories from 2007 to 2023 — all men.

• Only one Black woman (0.3% of total nominations) has been nominated in any of the Directing or Writing Categories from 2007 to 2023: Dee Rees for Mudbound in 2018.

• In the Directing and Writing categories, there has been one Native or Indigenous nominee: Taika Waititi, who won for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2020.

PRODUCING



· Despite the increase in the number of Best Picture nominees, there still have only been a handful of films nominated for Best Picture from women directors, and only three of these films went on to win Best Picture: The Hurt Locker in 2010, Nomadland in 2021, and CODA in 2022.

EDITING

· Only 16% (18) of the total nominations from 2007 to 2023 were for women, and 84% (92) were for men. 



OTHER CATEGORIES

• In Visual Effects, women represent less than 1% of the nominees over the 17-year period.

· In Documentary Feature, there was an 11 percentage point increase for women between 2007–2015 and 2016–2023.

· In Sound, women were 7% of the nominees between 2016 and 2023 (26 out of a total of 396).

· There was a 14-percentage point increase for women nominees in Animated Film between 2007–2015 and 2016–2023.



Full report: WMC Investigation: 17-Year Analysis of Gender & Non-Acting Academy Award Nominations

Infographic: WMC Investigation: 17-Year Analysis of Gender & Non-Acting Academy Award Nominations

Interactive graphic: WMC Investigation: 17-Year Analysis of Gender & Non-Acting Academy Award Nominations

The Women’s Media Center, co-founded by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem, is an inclusive and feminist organization that works to raise the visibility, viability, and decision-making power of women and girls in media to ensure that their stories get told and their voices are heard. We do this by researching and monitoring media; creating and modeling original online and on-air content; training women to be effective in media; and promoting women experts in all fields.

For more information, contact Cristal Williams Chancellor, Director of Communications, at cristal@womensmediacenter.com or 202-270-8539.