I thought I’d talk about how demoralising LinkedIn feels right now if you’re a woman running a business. Because honestly, it’s getting harder and harder to shake the feeling that this platform prioritises male voices, and the data being shared lately isn’t exactly reassuring.
What it feels like as a woman
I’m a female founder who posts consistently. I share case studies, results, proper thought leadership and not just “I had a coffee with a CEO and here are 9 vague lessons” energy. Or “I followed a 10 step process to convert leads. Comment SILLY SAUSAGE to get your hands on this.”
And yet:
- I watch men in my network post something light, vague or downright basic… and it flies
- I share something with depth and proof… and it tanks.
It’s not about ego. When you run a business, especially for us a marketing agency, LinkedIn is my pipeline, opportunities, speaking slots, and inbound leads. When your business depends on visibility, watching male peers sail past you on half the effort is exhausting and quite frankly completely depressing.
It’s not “in our heads” – the pattern is real
Over the last few weeks, women have been running those gender-switch experiments on LinkedIn, changing their profile gender to “male” or “Prefer not to say”, sometimes tweaking their name or photo, and posting the same content.
Many are reporting jumps of 400%–1600% in reach and profile views when they present as male.
LinkedIn’s official line? Gender is not used as a ranking signal in the algorithm.
But here’s what we do know:
- The user base is skewed: roughly 57% men to 43% women. That alone affects whose networks are bigger and whose content spreads faster.
- Years of “professionalism” being modelled by male leaders means the algorithm has been trained on largely male patterns of language, behaviour and networks.
- Some analyses suggest that women’s visibility dropped after recent algorithm changes, especially if their writing style didn’t match the newer, harder-edged “bro-code” tone the platform seems to reward.
So no, it might not be a cartoon villain in a dark room coding “if gender = female, then suppress”. But the impact can feel very similar.
Why it hits so hard as a woman in business
When you’re a female founder, this isn’t just “ugh, my post flopped”.
It’s:
- The male consultant who gets the inbound lead you’re better qualified for, because his content got 10x the reach
- The speaking invite that goes to yet another man, because he’s the one people “see” talking about the topic
- The emotional tax of showing up anyway knowing you’ll get more scrutiny, more trolling and less default credibility
We already start from a place where women are judged less competent until they prove otherwise, while men are assumed competent until proven otherwise. LinkedIn simply scales that dynamic to a global stage.
It’s disappointing to feel like the platform you’re told to rely on for “levelling the playing field” is actually amplifying the same old hierarchy, just with better UX.
So what do we do? (Beyond rage-scrolling)
I don’t have a magic fix. But I do have some thoughts.
If you’re a woman (or marginalised voice) on here:
- Don’t gaslight yourself. If your numbers have fallen off a cliff while you’re still doing the work, it’s not just that you suddenly became bad at LinkedIn.
- Support other women like it’s your job: saves, comments, shares and recommendations genuinely help. The algorithm follows behaviour.
- Refuse to fully “bro-code” your personality out of existence. Yes, learn the craft of good hooks and structure. No, you don’t have to turn yourself into a caricature of a tech bro to be taken seriously.
If you’re a man with a platform here:
- Audit your feed: how many of the voices you reshare, quote, and comment on are women or non-binary creators?
- Use your reach deliberately. A thoughtful comment or repost from you can put a woman’s work in front of entirely new networks.
- When you’re asked for recommendations for speakers, consultants, partners don’t just send whoever shouted the loudest on your feed this week. Think about who’s adding depth, not just volume.
And for LinkedIn itself
If LinkedIn wants to be the default home of global professional conversation, it cannot shrug this off as “a bit of noise”.
At minimum, we need:
- Independent audits of the algorithm for gender and racial bias
- Transparency about major algorithm changes and their observed impact across different groups
- A rethink of what “good content” means beyond performative, hyper-masculine self-promotion
Because right now, for a lot of women running businesses, it feels like we’re playing a game that was never designed with us in mind and we’re tired of being told to “lean in harder” to a system that keeps nudging us back out of view.
We need to do better.