The theater industry “fell short” on fulfilling diversity and inclusion promises in 2020, a new report from theater performer and stage manager union Actors’ Equity finds.

In their third diversity and inclusion hiring bias report, released Thursday, Actors’ Equity scrutinized internal data on members that were hired under Equity contracts in 2020 and the compensation they received on average. (The union measures its demographics by surveying members on how they self-identify, but Actors’ Equity notes this data is not complete.) The union found “incremental progress” compared to previous reports scrutinizing the periods between 2013-2015 and 2016-2019, but still uncovered that “the rate of change is glacial,” writes diversity and inclusion strategist for the union, Bliss Griffin, in the report. Overall, the report finds notable pay gaps that benefited men and white members, a lack of racial/ethnic diversity in the union compared to the country at large and a “near-invisibility” for people with disabilities.

Union president Kate Shindle adds in a statement that 2020 was a unique year due to COVID-19 majorly disrupting theater, and also because “theatrical leaders loudly and collectively promised to do better” on representation over the course of the year. She adds, “We are disappointed by the realities of the data: while there was some incremental progress here and there in 2020, the theatre fell far short of fulfilling its promises of diverse and inclusive hiring… We call on everyone who makes hiring and pay decisions in the theatre to demonstrate their commitment through their actions as well as their words.”

When it comes to gender, in 2020 men and women received “nearly an identical number of contracts,” while non-binary members received 0.91 percent of contracts, which the union notes is higher than their representation in the general population. Still, men earned higher wages than women on average in most job categories measured (the exception being the assistant stage manager role, where women on average earned $195 more than men), and non-binary individuals earned less than men and women in principal performing roles and as stage managers. Equity’s membership was 50.11 percent women, 49.59 percent men and 0.18 percent non-binary individuals or individuals who choose their own self-description.

The overall percentage of contracts received by union members of color increased slightly in 2020 compared with Equity’s second report — which measured data between 2016 and 2019 — going from 21.5 percent to 24.77 percent. (Equity notes that representation did not tick up across the board; contracts going to Black members increased 2 percent but those going to Indigenous Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders decreased from .07 percent to .03 percent.) Acting contracts and stage manager contracts going to people of color also increased in 2020, with a 2.12 percent increase for stage managers, a 4.79 percent increase for principal performers in musicals and a 3.2 percent increase for chorus members. Even so, people of color earned just 91.8 percent of what white members made per week during 2020. Overall, 18.6 percent of Equity members self-identified as people of color, whereas people of color account for nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population.

The union specifically highlighted stage managers, whose contracts “continue to be issued to white people at a disproportionately high rate as compared to any actor category.” In 2020, stage manager contracts going to people of color slightly increased to 12.25 percent, while assistant stage manager contracts declined to 12.58 percent. Furthermore, white stage managers earned over 20 percent more per week than those who are people of color.

Members who self-identified as disabled — Equity notes only 529 of their more than 51,000 members have — “consistently make less than average” compared to fellow union members. Other groups that earned less than average, according to the report, are transgender members (and Equity notes that only 75 of Equity’s members have told the union they identify as such) and members over 65, who earned on average 89 percent of what members under 65 earned.

The report ends, “We hope that next year’s report shows real momentum, and that the work of community organizers across the country bear fruit. In the meantime, we continue to urge those in power to do better.”