Women in Animation: A Quarter Century of Work Towards Creating Gender Balance in the Animation Industry

With its roots dating back more than two decades, Women in Animation (WIA) was established in 1994 “to foster the dignity, concerns and advancement of women who are involved with any and all aspects of the industry and art of animation,” as its mission statement read at the time. Through networking and special events, the organization provided a sense of fellowship and community for the notably low percentage of women employed in the industry at that time. In 2013, the organization experienced a rebirth in its efforts to empower and mobilize women in the industry, and WIA currently has over 5,000 international members across nine chapters  and approximately 15,000 followers who subscribe to its newsletters.

One of the long-standing goals of WIA is to see more gender balance in the creative leadership ranks within the animation industry: a study in 2014 revealed that more than 60% of animation and art school students were women, and yet only 20% of the creative jobs were held by women. Thus, the revitalized WIA set an organizational goal to inspire its industry to achieve a leadership ratio of 50/50 by the year 2025 and has already witnessed the percentage of women in creative roles in animation rise to about 30%. But that still leaves plenty of work to be done on the path to 50/50, and so WIA has since paved many steps to help the industry reach that landmark.

Efforts in Education

WIA believes that the earlier in life women can envision themselves working in the animation industry, the more solid a foundation they can stand upon while building that professional path. To that end, WIA has supported the creation of Student Clubs in universities and colleges so that interested young people can have access to supportive programs, connect with peers who share the same passion, and hear from guest speakers to set them up for success in their career ambitions. WIA is currently considering the establishment of programming for secondary school levels of education as well, to help students of animation find their way even earlier in their academic pursuits.

WIA also boasts a long-standing scholarship program that grants financial awards as well as software and other tools from partnering companies to interested undergraduate or graduate students who demonstrate artistic talent, a passion for animation, a financial need, and a promising future in the field of animation. Student members of WIA are encouraged to apply, no matter in what region of the world they are academically pursuing their animation career interests. The 2020-21 scholarship program attracted 97 applicants from 49 schools across United States as well as Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, China, Germany, Indonesia, Sweden, and Vietnam. “WIA’s annual scholarship program is very dear to my heart because we are able to provide direct support to future generations, who play an essential role in WIA’s goal of reaching 50/50 by 2025. I am extremely proud of all the students in the world who keep creating and sharing their stories despite all the difficulties they may have, especially in this time of pandemic,” said WIA Chair of Education Hsiang Chin Moe, who also currently serves as the BFA Animation Chair at the School of Visuals Arts (SVA) in New York City.

The 2020-21 WIA Scholarship committee selected ten amazing students as most deserving of awards, and one of those students was Jiamu Tao, an animation student from China who has since finished her undergraduate work at SVA and will start her MFA program at University of Southern California this fall, majoring in Animation and Digital Arts. Tao recalled that winning a WIA Scholarship was “a huge recognition that gave me the confidence to go into the industry and present myself with my works. Knowing that the media world has been a male-dominant field, it’s incredible that WIA raises awareness for female animation workers, not only improving the working environment for women, but also increasing the representation in media that faces audiences outside this industry. As a young female going into this industry, I respect and support all the effort that WIA has been and will be making.”

Unique to 2020, WIA also created an online “Class of 2020 Showcase” to celebrate the final films created by students who completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in 2020 and could not benefit from their traditional year-end festivities including in-person commencement ceremonies, screening celebrations, and career fairs that were all canceled due to the pandemic. Over 400 submissions from 121 schools were collected and curated by WIA Chair of Education Hsiang Chin Moe for industry viewing, and this collection of graduation films were seen by animation creators, recruiters, hiring managers, agents and studio executives, all of whom make important connections for promising new talent. An esteemed panel of industry leaders served as a jury to review and select “Best of Show” and “Honorable Mention” winners within the showcase, shining a special spotlight on those young filmmakers to give them an extra boost in the hiring market.

Efforts in Employment

While all programming for WIA is meant to inspire the young women to chart paths for themselves to enter, rise and succeed with the animation industry, various WIA initiatives have dialed into actionable, measurable efforts to support getting such professional candidates hired and moving up their career ladders.

For example, WIA has long curated an online job board for animation studios in any region of the world to post openings to which members of WIA are invited to apply. Robust and constantly updated, this international resource for employment opportunities is a meaningful step to helping find balance in the industry, as members of WIA are clearly are the candidates that WIA wants to see landing positions of creative leadership–and really, all slots on the crew rosters. Employers have stated that they highly regard candidates that learn about their openings through WIA, as the organization has a reputation for gathering and supporting a respectable, professional community of talented and hard-working individuals.

WIA has also recently developed and launched a talent database to increase the visibility of the vast, multi-faceted, and international pool of underrepresented talent in the industry. Women, transgender, and non-binary candidates in the animation industry can add themselves to the database and their credits are then verified by WIA staff. That information is made available to studios around the world who also champion inclusion and diversity within their hiring practices, and potential employers can filter the database based on a number of animation-specific hiring factors. The WIA Talent Database is an ever-growing resource that is updated regularly, and it currently hosts more than 5,000 candidates for a wide variety of roles within the animation realm.

Once the walk down a career path has commenced, WIA believes that mentorship is key to successful progression upwards. The WIA Mentorship Program connects women and other underrepresented gender individuals across a variety of industry roles to thoughtfully matched mentors who provide guidance on taking the next steps on their professional paths. Mentorship can take place in a one-on-one pairing or in group settings, which WIA calls Mentor Circles. These groups connect up to ten mentees with an industry mentor according to experience level and interest, and the Circle meets in person or virtually over a four-month period. Mentees gain invaluable knowledge and perspectives from both the lead mentor and their peers to foster personal and professional growth as an individual. Since its initial operational year of 2014, the WIA Mentorship program has grown exponentially, starting with eight 1-on-1 pairings in the first round and branching out to 631 mentees in 2020. To date, the program has benefited more than 1,000 mentees, and in 2021, with 45 mentors offering their time and expertise to the 2021 program, WIA expects to benefit up to 400 mentees in this round of Circles. “The WIA Mentorship Program is really at the core of what WIA is about. We’re so proud of the tremendous success of this program and the many careers the program has supported and inspired over the years. We’ve received endless feedback from both mentees and mentors about how the program has had a profound impact on their lives,” said WIA President Marge Dean.

Ongoing Efforts and Evolution

WIA has tackled a number of timely topics over the years, aligning focused efforts to enhance various challenged populations within its industry, including those that have suffered from harassment, unconscious bias or intended injustice, and other such detrimental and unfair conditions. Pledges, panels, one-on-ones, workshops and other programming efforts offer multiple forms of inspiration, education and support to those who are underrepresented in the industry, and many of these events are streamed and/or recorded and available to members around the world.

WIA invites global membership into its welcoming, supportive and open community for people of underrepresented gender identities – which includes but is not limited to all women, nonbinary and transgender individuals – as well as their allies across the animation industry. For more information or to join WIA, please visit http://www.womeninanimation.org or follow WIA on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

By Tracey Miller-Zarneke, Chair of Legacy/Archives, WIA