Women still hugely underrepresented in Oscar nominations, according to a new study.

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman

The report, conducted by the Women's Media Center, found that just 20 percent of the non-acting categories featured women, falling two percentage points from the nominations in 2016.

Julie Burton, president of the Women's Media Center, said in a statement: "We have a saying: 'If you can see it, you can be it,' but in the crucial behind-the-scenes non-acting roles, our investigation shows that what you see is 80 percent of all nominees are men.

"Four out of five nominees are men - meaning male voices and perspectives are largely responsible for what we see on screen."

On a more positive note, the report revealed that nine women were nominated as producers in the Best Picture category, which is the largest nominations count in any category at this year's Academy Awards.

But Julie said more must be done to ensure the voices of women are heard more frequently in Hollywood.

She said: "The perspectives, experiences, and voices of more than half the population deserve an equal seat at the table."

This comes shortly after Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman recently revealed she was paid three times less than Ashton Kutcher when she starred alongside him in the romantic-comedy movie 'No Strings Attached'.

She said: "Ashton Kutcher was paid three times as much as me on 'No Strings Attached'.

"I knew and I went along with it because there's this thing with 'quotes' in Hollywood."

Natalie subsequently explained that the quotes represent a career-high payday for the film star.

She said: "His was three times higher than mine so they said he should get three times more.

"I wasn't as p***ed as I should have been. I mean, we get paid a lot, so it's hard to complain, but the disparity is crazy."