Women scored only 33% of Emmy nominations in non-acting categories this year, a slight uptick from the 32% last year but far short of gender parity goals that Hollywood has touted, according to an analysis released Thursday by the Women’s Media Center.
Nominations in the four top non-acting Emmy fields — producing, directing, writing and editing — also fell short of gender balance, although women saw some modest gains, from 32% to 33% of all nominees. Three was also one nonbinary nominee out of total of 1,386 in these categories.
Female editors showed the biggest gains, with a 10 percentage point increase to a still modest 25%. Female directors saw a slight uptick, from 12% to 15%, while writing nominees rose from 33% to 34%. There was no change among female producers, who accounted for 36% of nominees both this year and last.
A total of 2,357 people earned Emmy nominations in the 93 non-acting categories.
“The findings show that the odds of winning in these critical behind-the-scenes categories are stacked against women,” Women’s Media Center President and CEO Julie Burton said. “Fair and equitable presence and participation of women and of people of color in non-acting positions in TV leads to more realistic representation on the screen. In Hollywood, men still dominate in these powerful positions, thus denying women the chance to showcase their talent and broaden their opportunity.”
The WMC analysis found that the 10 programs with the most 2022 Primetime Emmy nominations all have at least one woman nominated as a producer, writer, editor, director or actress. In the categories for producing, directing, writing and editing, the shows that tended to get the most nominations for women are those that have female-oriented subject matter and/or have a woman as showrunner, according to the report.
“These numbers show that having a woman as a showrunner can make a difference in the number of women who are hired for non-acting jobs, and who receive Emmy nominations in non-acting categories,” WMC co-founder Gloria Steinem said in a statement.
The 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards will air on Sept. 12 on NBC, with Peacock offering livestream access on demand.
