Martha M. Lauzen, professor at San Diego State University, has published the latest edition of the “Boxed In” report, which examines the representation of women on screen and behind the scenes on broadcast and streaming television programs from August 2025 to June 2026. The report has been published on a regular basis since the 1997–98 season.
According to Dr. Lauzen’s research, the 2025–26 television season had the lowest representation of women creators in the past decade. In the 2025–26 season, the share of women creating streaming series was just 24 percent, down 12 percentage points from their 36 percent share in 2024–25. For broadcast programs, women’s share among show creators declined slightly from 20 percent in 2024–25 to 19 percent in 2025–26. A decade ago, women’s representation among streaming creators was 25 percent, while their representation among broadcast creators was 21 percent. When combining both broadcast and streaming shows, women represented 22 percent of creators in 2025–26, down from 27 percent in 2024–25.
Notably, programs with at least one woman creator employed significantly higher numbers of women working behind the camera. On shows with at least one woman creator, women comprised 22 percent of directors, 48 percent of writers, and 33 percent of editors. In contrast, on shows created exclusively by men, women were 14 percent of directors, 17 percent of writers, and 25 percent of editors.
The 2025–26 television season also saw a large decline in the share of women directors. This past year, women were 22 percent of television directors, a drop of 10 percentage points from the 2024–25 season.
From 2024–25 to 2025–26, the share of major female characters on original streaming programs declined from 49 percent to 44 percent. Broadcast programs had a smaller decline, dropping from 47 percent to 46 percent.
In the most recent television season, women characters in speaking roles and major roles on both streaming and broadcasting programs were often younger than their male counterparts; the majority of women characters were in their 20s and 30s, while the majority of male characters were in their 30s or 40s. Original television shows in 2025–26 featured three times as many male characters over the age of 60 in major roles than similarly aged female characters.
Dr. Lauzen is a professor of television, film, and new media and the founding executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Iowa and a doctorate from the University of Maryland.