Netzwerk Autorenrechte applied with the cross-association project #countingwomen at „Voices Of Culture“ (Goethe-Institute/EU Commission) with a concept on „Gender & Culture“. Now NAR as 1 out of 35 european artist institutions will be part of the dialogue! #countingwomen starts developing concepts for gender balance in cultural and creative sectors for the European Commission. Read more

The pilot study “The Lack of Visibility of Female Authors in the Media. Results of a Quantitative Survey” is the first result of the long-term research project #countingwomen of the cross-association AG DIVERSITÄT of literature business. In the aftermath of the „Round Table Discussion on the Role of Women in Culture and Media“ which was convened by the Minister of State for Culture and Media, experts who had participated in it, planned and realised the project #countingwomen in order to continue the survey independently. With this and further studies the project #countingwomen aims at a compilation of data reports on the visibility of female authors in literature reviews, in the awarding of literary prizes, in publishing programmes, in teaching materials in schools, in juries or in awarding scholarships.

The continued analyses shall detect structural problems, their causes, and effects; furthermore they shall contribute to the development of constructive proposals in order to enhance gender equality in literature business.

The present study “The Lack of Visibility of Female Authors in the Media. Results of a Quantitative Survey” has been conceived and carried out as pilot study in cooperation with the department for media research at University Rostock.

In March 2018, 45 volunteers encoded 2036 reviews from 69 German media formats (print, radio, TV) and analysed them statistically according to certain parameters. The lead questions were: Are there detectable differences between the media presence, frequency and scope of reviews of female authors and male authors? Do specific features exist, which can be traced back to the reviewer’s gender? Which genres are reviewed to which extent and by whom? Are therein significances ascertainable regarding the gender distribution (of reviewers and of authors)?

Executive Summary
During the month of March in 2018 2036 Reviews of 69 German sources of media (print, radio, and TV) have been evaluated statistically and analysed sociologically. The choice of media has been made in order to grant a representative portrayal of German journalism. The analysis shows that the visibility of women in media and the literary scene places significantly behind that of men. The main findings are, in short, as follows:

 Two men face one woman.
Across all the media, except for women’s magazines, male authors are reviewed more frequently as well as more detailed: Two thirds of the reviewed books have been composed by males. This ratio of “2 to 1“ applies to all types of media.

 Men write more about men. And women? They do, too.
The critiques are predominantly, in a ratio of 4 to 3, composed by men. Furthermore, men mostly review men: three quarters of all books reviewed by men are written by male authors. On the other side, women tend to review male as well as female authors on an equal frequency.

 Nonfiction and crime literature: 5 reviewed male authors face 1 female author.
The disproportionate attention that male authors get from critics exists in almost every literary genre: in the range of nonfiction only one in five books reviewed by a man is written by a female author. In crime literature the disparity is the most striking: not only are male authors overrepresented with 76% compared to women; but, 82% of men reviewed men in this genre.

 More space for men that write about men
The reviews composed by men are significantly more detailed than those of women. Besides, critics grant more space to works by male authors. As a result, the visibility of male authors experiences an additional increase. In the range of crime literature a pronounced imbalance can once again be detected.

 More visibility for men in TV – only in the radio women have more audibility
In the range of television a blatantly higher visibility of male authors can be detected: while the works of women are reviewed 580 seconds on average, the amount of time for male authors was 931 seconds. In the range of radio broadcasting, however, although females have been reviewed less frequently, it was for a longer period of time.

Conclusion: Male authors and critics dominate the literary review scene: Two thirds of all reviews acknowledge the works of male authors, men predominantly write about men and they get a significantly larger space provided for their reviews. Only the genre of children’s and young adult literature appears to be balanced; genres such as nonfiction and crime literature that are felt to be intellectual or “masculine“ are dominated by male authors and critics.

The pilot study “The Lack of Visibility of Female Authors in the Media. Results of a Quantitative Survey” shall provide the basis for deeper gender analyses of the literary landscape. Thus, the findings obtained shall be vetted within the scope of a complete survey over a longer period and deepened representatively for instance in comparison with the books published in the survey period. The long-term project #countingwomen is conceived and implemented by AG DIVERSITÄT. The Members of the consortium are voluntarily researching culture professionals (historicists, authors, translators, ethnologists, political scientists) from the following literary associations: German PEN Centre, Verband deutscher Schriftstellerinnen und Schriftsteller (VS) in ver.di, BücherFrauen e.V., Mörderische Schwestern e.V., Das Syndikat – Autorengruppe Kriminalliteratur, and Netzwerk Autorenrechte. This and future studies are going to be documented on www.frauenzählen.de and as of 2019 in English on www.counting-women.com.

This and upcoming studies will be documentated on www.frauenzählen.de and in english on www.counting-women.com.
The complete study you find here: Pilot study
Besides you find charts, our logo, quotations of the research team here: Media/Press Downloads.