Parity

WIA strives to level the playing field:

Women in Animation, the organization that supports women in all aspects of the animation industry, is tackling the issue of gender parity with a new initiative called 50-50 by 2025. Most animation students these days are women, but only about 20% of the creative workforce is made up of women. WIA is hoping this new initiative will help to change that.

“What is the disconnect between graduation and employment? How can we stem the attrition of women?” said producer Jinko Gotoh, WIA chairperson and moderator of a panel taking place at the currently ongoing View Conference in Turin, Italy. “We need to take a hard look at the real numbers needed to reach this goal.” ...

The animation industry is marginally better than other parts of the entertainment industry. Marginally.

But old habits are hard to break. For years women were relegated to ink and paint, checking, and other technical jobs, most on the back end of carton production. Today women make up 21% of the creative side of the animation biz. Not particularly great, but (as we said) better than some sectors of the above-the-line guilds.

... In the film sector, women [live-action] writers fell further behind their white male counterparts in 2012, accounting for just 15 percent of sector employment (down from 17 percent in 2009). Women remained underrepresented by a factor of more than 3 to 1 among screenwriters. ...

Hopefully gender trend lines will continue to narrow.