Women are increasingly falling out of focus on the small screen. According to a new report on gender and attitudes in television presented by IMDbPro and ReFrame – an initiative of the Sundance Institute and WIF – women have lost the gains they have made in recent years in almost every role analyzed.

Last year’s data showed that women (or gender-diverse actors) played 54 percent of lead roles, while the new report sees a drop from 13 percent to 41 percent. Also as part of the study, ReFrame and IMDbPro released a stamp that recognizes gender-equal casting in TV shows, and this year 77 of the 200 most popular TV and streaming series of 2023-24 received that distinction (or 38.5 percent). The total represents a drop of 8.5 percent from last year, or 20 percent from a peak in 2020-21.

For the third year in a row, the majority of the Emmy nominees for Best Comedy Series received a stamp, including Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Hacks, Reservation Dogs And What we do in the shadowsThree of the eight nominated drama series also landed in a place, including Fallout, The Morning Show And Mr and Mrs Smithand three limited or anthology series, including Baby reindeer, chemistry class And True Detective: Nightland.

Other top shows you can get a stamp for include Ahsoka, American Horror Story, Murder at World’s End, Dr. Death, Fellow Travelers, Gen V, Girls5eva, Griselda, Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Never Have I Ever, Sex Education, Special Ops: Lioness, Star Trek: Discovery, Under the Bridge And Will Trentamong others. The full list can be found here.

“Positive trends in reducing bias often stagnate or regress after a period of progress,” ReFrame founders Keri Putnam and Cathy Schulman explain in a joint statement. “That there are nearly twice as many Stamped series this year as when we began in 2018 is a testament to the efforts of many in this field, but the 20 percent decline over the past four years indicates a troubling trend. If this pace of reduction continues, all the progress made in diversifying talent-shaping media in the U.S. will be wiped out in two years.”

The new data includes a company report card, and with the exception of Amazon MGM Studios, every distributor saw a lower percentage of gender-parity series than in 2020-21. The data underscores the impact of women and women of color in key roles. All 13 series in the top 200 led by women of color as showrunners received a ReFrame Stamp, while nearly 60 percent of Stamped series employ women as showrunners, compared to 32.5 percent of series overall.

Since 2018, ReFrame has evaluated scripted TV show casts each season — using data from longtime partner IMDbPro — and awards its stamp to those who meet criteria for gender-equitable hiring in key roles in the cast and crew, such as showrunners, writers, directors, executive and production managers, lead actors, co-lead actors and department heads. Additional points are awarded to productions that hire women of color for these positions, as well as shows with overall gender parity in the crew. To determine this year’s list of recipients, ReFrame pulled IMDbPro data on the 200 most popular narrative TV and streaming shows with a full season of episodes released during the Emmy eligibility period from June 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024.