Ballet, a mainstream performing art predominantly associated with women, exhibits significant gender imbalances in leading positions. However, the collaboration’s structural composition vis-à-vis gender representation in the field remains unexplored. Our study investigates the gendered labor force composition and collaboration patterns in ballet creations. Our findings reveal gender disparities in ballet creations aligned with gendered collaboration patterns and women’s occupation of more peripheral network positions than men. Productivity disparities show women accessing 20–25% of ballet creations compared to men. Mathematically derived perception errors show the underestimation of women artists’ representation within ballet collaboration networks, potentially impacting women’s careers in the field. Our study highlights the structural imbalances that women face in ballet creations and emphasizes the need for a more inclusive and equal professional environment in the ballet industry. These insights contribute to a broader understanding of structural gender imbalances in artistic domains and can inform cultural organizations about potential affirmative actions toward a better representation of women leaders in ballet.

芭蕾舞是一种主要与女性相关的主流表演艺术，在领导地位上表现出严重的性别失衡。然而，该领域的合作结构组成与性别代表性仍有待探索。我们的研究调查了芭蕾舞创作中的性别劳动力构成和合作模式。我们的研究结果揭示了芭蕾舞创作中的性别差异与性别合作模式以及女性比男性占据更多外围网络职位有关。生产力差异显示，与男性相比，女性获得的芭蕾舞作品只有 20-25%。从数学上得出的认知错误表明，人们低估了女性艺术家在芭蕾舞合作网络中的代表性，这可能会影响女性在该领域的职业生涯。我们的研究强调了女性在芭蕾舞创作中面临的结构性失衡，并强调芭蕾舞行业需要一个更具包容性和平等的专业环境。这些见解有助于更广泛地理解艺术领域的结构性性别失衡，并可以让文化组织了解潜在的平权行动，以更好地代表芭蕾舞中的女性领袖。