Why a Job Name Makes a Difference

Inclusion Initiatives

Implementing its gender neutral approach, the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards’ lead performance category had 8 female and 2 male nominees with Michelle Yeoh the winner. In 2024, it was Jeffrey Wright.

This year, among 192 Academy Award nominees, 32% were women and 68% were men. Meanwhile, since 1929, we have 96 years of white male dominance. Out of 13,445 Academy Award nominees, 83% were men:

However, as always, a closer look gives us more insight. Although the following table of the percentage of female Academy Award nominations extends back to 1929, I just copied its most recent entries. Below, you can see Costume Design and Production Design with the highest proportion of female nominees. By contrast, Cinematography, Visual Effects, and Sound appear to have a massive male tilt:

The male dominance in gender neutral categories helps us realize that gender neutrality will not have all of the answers. For that reason, we can look to Frances McDormand. Accepting the Best Actress award, she concluded by referring to the inclusion rider. Misleadingly simple sounding, the phrase is a contractual promise. With more diversity its goal, the rider’s voluntary mandates require institutional upheaval.

Our Bottom Line: Expectations Bias

Moving forward, we can ask who will dominate the arts awards.

I would like to suggest that what we are called will eventually make a difference. When children are asked to draw people doing a job, they typically respond to a male designation in the title and just draw men. Somewhat similarly, people hesitated when they read the second sentence that follows but not the first one:

“The foreman reassured himself he had made the right decision.” 

“The foreman reassured herself she had made the right decision.”

Language creates what behavioral economists call an expectations bias. Consequently, the following gender neutral titles could change the percent of people that occupy them:

My sources and more: Whereas the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has taken us to a gender and minority gap, this article takes the next step. Then, conveying more detail, the NY Times told us more about the Gotham decision.