Academy membership is divided into 19 branches, representing different disciplines

in motion pictures. Members may not belong to more than one branch. Members
whose work does not fall within one of the branches may belong to a group known
as "Members at Large". Members at Large have all the privileges of branch
membership except for representation on the Board. Associate members are those
closely allied to the industry but not actively engaged in motion picture production.
They are not represented on the Board and do not vote on Academy Awards.

According to a February 2012 study conducted by the Los Angeles Times (sampling
over 5,000 of its 5,765 members), the Academy at that time was 94% white, 77%
male, 86% age 50 or older, and had a median age of 62. A third of members were
previous winners or nominees of Academy Awards themselves. Of the Academy's
54-member Board of Governors, 25 are female.[49]

On June 29, 2016, a paradigm shift began in the Academy's selection process,
resulting in a new class comprising 46% women and 41% people of color.[50] The
effort to diversify the Academy was led by social activist and Broadway Black
managing-editor April Reign.[51] Reign created the Twitter hashtag #OscarsSoWhite
as a means of criticizing the dearth of non-white nominees for the 2015 Academy
Awards. Though the hashtag drew widespread media attention, the Academy
remained obstinate on the matter of adopting a resolution that would make
demonstrable its efforts to increase diversity. With the 2016 Academy Awards, many,
including April Reign, were dismayed by the Academy's indifference about
representation and inclusion, as the 2016 nominees were once again entirely white.
April Reign revived #OscarsSoWhite, and renewed her campaign efforts, which
included multiple media appearances and interviews with reputable news outlets. As
a result of Reign's campaign, the discourse surrounding representation and
recognition in film spread beyond the United States and became a global
discussion [citation needed]. Faced with mounting pressure to expand the Academy
membership, the Academy capitulated and instituted new policies to ensure that
future Academy membership invitations would better represent the demographics of
modern film-going audiences.[52] The A2020 initiative was announced in January
2016 to double the number of women and people of color in membership by
2020[citation needed].