A new study has revealed that French female directors are much better represented in their industry than their counterparts in many other countries, but even they still have a ways to go.

The first official study on gender diversity by France’s National Cinema Centre (CNC) found that women directors helmed 23% of the 279 French films sanctioned by the organization in 2012. This represents a sizable improvement from 2008, when just 18.4% of French films were made by women.

Perhaps more promisingly, 27.3% of feature debuts made in 2012 were directed or co-directed by women (compared to 25.7% in 2008), while 33.3% of second films in the same year were directed or co-directed by women (compared to 29% in 2008).

But here’s the bad news. The average budget for female-directed films ($4.74) was just over half the average budget for male-directed films ($7.78). Women directors also made on average 31.5% less than male directors — and the gender gap in compensation is consistent with nearly every film-related job behind the scenes, from electricians and production managers to make-up artists and costume designers.

[h/t Screen Daily]