It’s official: the 2018–19 pilot season has been much more welcoming to women than 2017–18. According to Vulture, women are directing 24 of the 75 broadcast TV pilots this year, which amounts to 32 percent. This marks a huge step up from last year, when just six of 70 pilots were female-helmed.

Also, a greater variety of women are directing. Nineteen women are directing pilots, as compared to last year’s four. To add to the good news, after two years of including zero women of color as directors, the 2017–18 broadcast pilots boast three black women and three Latina women among its helmers.

Regina King, Kat Coiro, Lake Bell, Julie Plec, Rachel Lee Goldenberg, Patricia Riggen, Rosemary Rodriguez, and Zetna Fuentes are among this year’s female pilot directors.

As the source notes, nine women are making their pilot directorial debuts: King, Coiro, Bell, Plec, Rodriguez, Fuentes, Uta Briesewitz, Sanaa Hamri, and Kate Dennis. Victoria Mahoney, Charlotte Sieling, Riggen, and Goldenberg have previously helmed (or in Riggen’s case, attached to helm) cable pilots, but are making their broadcast pilot directorial debuts.

Pilot directing is a much sought-after gig and often marks a turning point in a director’s career. In addition to securing an EP credit on the series, “getting the opportunity to do a TV pilot can be an important step to gaining legitimacy and authority,” Vulture details. “It allows you to set the visual template for a show, which requires more trust from the network, the studio, the creator, and other producers.”

While the progress since the 2017–18 season is undeniable, there’s still plenty of work to be done — 32 percent, after all, still isn’t 50. “Obviously, those numbers show that there is a change,” said King, who is directing the ABC drama pilot “The Finest,” which centers on five African-American sisters in the NYPD. “I think the most important thing at this point is to not allow it to be an anomaly … no change becomes a way of life without consistently making moves on it. So I think that, yes, we are seeing the beginnings of a change, but the beginning and an actual change are two totally different things.”