LinkedIn Algorithm Allegedly Favors Male Profiles and Language
Women LinkedIn users report that switching their gender to male or adopting assertive "bro-coded" language led to dramatic increases in post visibility and engagement. LinkedIn denies any gender-based bias in its ranking algorithm.
What happened
Over recent weeks, dozens of women LinkedIn users reported that switching their profile gender to male or adopting assertive, jargon-heavy "bro-coded" language led to dramatic spikes in post visibility and engagement. The trend reportedly began with posts from women who said their reach had dropped following LinkedIn's recent algorithm tweaks, prompting some to test the system directly by changing pronouns, names, profile gender, or replacing their usual tone with stereotypically masculine language featuring boosterish verbs like "drive", "accelerate" and "transform".
Reported impact
LinkedIn user Felice Ayling reported that her impressions doubled after switching her gender to male, calling it a sign of algorithmic bias. Mental health communications strategist Megan Cornish revealed that her post views shot up by 399 per cent after changing her gender for a week while also using ChatGPT to rewrite her profile with more assertive language.
Index analysis
Entrepreneurs Cindy Gallop and Jane Evans conducted a test in which they posted identical content simultaneously to posts by men Matt Lawton and Stephen McGinnis. Despite Gallop and Evans having a combined LinkedIn following of more than 154,000 compared to approximately 9,400 for the two men, Lawton and McGinnis enjoyed much higher engagement and reach.
Governance controls
LinkedIn stated that it uses AI-driven ranking signals to determine what appears in each user's feed and denies that the platform penalizes women or applies any gender-based weighting in its ranking systems.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.