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The sexism of the television industry, in 6 charts

Olivia Pope is still in the minority of characters on television
Olivia Pope is still in the minority of characters on television
ABC

Scandal's Olivia Pope and The Good Wife's Alicia Florrick may be front and center in many TV fans' hearts, but women are still highly underrepresented in the television industry. According to a new study, first publicized by Deadline, women's roles both on screen and behind the scenes have declined in the past few years. The report, titled "Boxed In," was conducted by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University and randomly selects one episode to use as analysis. That's a small sample size, but it bears out what other industry trends and studies have reflected.

The report analysis studies broadcast network television and cable television, and Netflix, so yes Orange is The New Black is included. For all forms of television combined, the report found that women comprised only 40 percent of speaking roles on the screen. Behind the scenes, women only comprised 25 percent of individuals in key roles. Here are some of those roles broken down:

new chart 1

chart 7

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chart 6

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