This study examines representations of Black women and girls in entertainment media in 2019. Much of the existing research on race and gender in entertainment media analyzes representations of women and Black people as two distinct groups, but far less is known about the intersectional depictions of Black girls and women in Hollywood. It is important to note that the number of Black female characters in film and TV is too small to examine Black women and girls separately, so the analysis is combined throughout this report.

LOS ANGELES – Nearly a third of TV episodes in the 2019-20 season were helmed by directors of color, and more than a third were directed by women the Directors Guild of America announced today in its latest Episodic Television Director Inclusion Report. While the shares of episodes directed by women and African Americans reached new highs, Latinos and women of color continued to be severely underrepresented despite their sizable and growing presence in the population, and employment of Asian Americans remained flat. With respect to the pipeline of first-time TV directors, the report found that some ongoing obstacles remained.

The British Consulate General in New York partnered with the Geena Davis Institute for Gender in Media to conduct the first systematic assessment of the role media plays in this persistent STEM gender gap. In this report, we examine representations of STEM characters in the top UK children’s film, television, and streaming content. Media are influential in shaping the values and career paths of young viewers. Understanding what messages girls, boys, and gender non-conforming kids are getting about STEM in their favorite TV shows is key to understanding whether this powerful medium is encouraging or discouraging girls from pursuing STEM.