I'm at a disadvantage on LinkedIn for being a woman.

I can't verify my LinkedIn profile because the name on my profile does not match the name on my passport.

I appreciate that, as far as problems go, this is pretty first-world. But after opening up a conversation in a Facebook group, I realise I'm not alone with this problem.

But the good news is, I come with solutions.

I got married last year, and I took my husband's surname, as 79% percent of women do when they marry. My passport has six years left before expiry, so it remains in my maiden name. Financially logical.

In 2023, LinkedIn introduced a new verification system. Sounds like a good idea, right? I mean, we all like to know that the people we interact with online are who they say they are.

One of the benefits of LinkedIn's "free and fast" verification system is its promise to boost the visibility of our LinkedIn profile, and by being verified, we gain credibility and trust.

As part of the verification process, we need a formal ID, in my case, my passport, to confirm our name.

Of note, I had been using my married name professionally for several years before I got married; it is my "brand."

LinkedIn wants me to use the wrong name to get verified

When rejected by the verification system, I contacted LinkedIn and asked if I could send them my marriage certificate to secure verification. Apparently, their system couldn't accommodate this.

As a solution to my problem, LinkedIn encouraged me to change my name on my profile to my maiden name so that I could be accepted by the verification process.

But once verified under my old name, I would be stuck. I couldn't change it back to my actual name because this would trigger the verification process again, and I would need my passport to match my profile name. This is how I got here in the first place.

Remember, all my work is under my married name. We work hard to build a network and a brand. Names are important for recognition and reputation.

So, in essence, LinkedIn's solution was to encourage me to go under an alias identity (albeit my old name) and risk not being recognised in communities where I've worked hard to build a reputation. Does that not defeat the purpose of verification?

Yes, I appreciate I could also update my passport. And I would — if it were that important to me.

But I question why I should have to.

Women already face financial and time expenses regarding the bureaucracy of name changes. Why should I have to pay £88.50 for a passport renewal just so I can be verified for "free" on LinkedIn?

It made me wonder. I can't be the only one experiencing difficulties with the LinkedIn verification system.

What's in a name?

So, I did some digging and asked in a community Facebook group if others had experienced issues with the LinkedIn verification system. I found that I'm not alone in this gender-biased fiasco.

I heard from about 20 people. But here's the thing: so far, all the people I've heard from who have experienced issues with the LinkedIn verification system are women or members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

The author and speaker, Marrisa Orr, posted about this on her own LinkedIn profile, where she said.

"I can't get verified on LinkedIn because my professional/author name doesn't match the name on my license. This is problematic for many reasons, one of which is that women who go through a divorce have to make decisions about keeping or changing their last name.

Because the legal process to change your name is fairly laborious, many women use a combination of their married and maiden names for professional vs. personal contexts."

Name changes usually occur due to marriage, divorce or gender transitioning.

Almost all the women who responded to my query in the Facebook group kept their maiden name as their professional identity while legally adopting their husband's surname for their personal life.

Also, bear in mind that in the LGBTQIA+ community, it can be common for the couple to combine their surnames to create a double-barrelled surname after marriage.

And, of course, there is the issue of trans people not wanting to use their dead name.

Of significance to my own experience, the majority of those who replied to my query said they didn't update their passport until it was ready for renewal.

We often see a variable time lag between official name changes and updating bureaucratic documents such as passports and driving licenses.

I'm not saying straight men aren't affected; they might be sometimes. Particularly if they go by a shortened name or their middle name, as my husband and brother both do.

But what I am saying is that the whole verification system is inherently sexist and steeped in gender biases.

This wouldn't be the first time that LinkedIn has been accused of gender bias.

In 2016, the LinkedIn algorithm suggested results for men following a search for women. For instance, it produced results for "Stephen Williams" instead of "Stephanie Williams" per the search input.

It feels like women and the LGBTQIA+ community are being shackled while men are given a step ladder — as if men need any more help getting to the top.

But it's not intentional, so how can it be biased?

Listen, I'm not saying that flaws in the verification system are intentional. But something doesn't need to be intentionally sexist or biased to meet the criteria of such.

While outlining the issues to my hubby, he denied there were gender biases at stake based on his assertion that they weren't intentional. He also couldn't accept that women and LGBTQIA+ were disadvantaged over straight men.

So, I asked him to consider a few things.

Firstly, I asked him to come up with the names of all the men he knew who had changed their names at any point in their lives. Hubby looked at me blankly and grinned sheepishly; he couldn't name one.

To further support this, I asked him to list all the women he knew who had changed their names. We didn't have time for his answer.

While I don't have actual stats, I made a rough speculation for ease of discussion. I asked my hubby to imagine that if 10 out of every 100 people face issues with the LinkedIn verification system, what demographic did he think these 10 people come from?

Again, he fell quiet but gave me a surrendering look.

My hunch is based on my speculated stats: I think 9 out of the 10 people who experience issues with the LinkedIn verification system would be women or part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Therefore, there is no denying that the system is inherently biased.

Bring me solutions, not problems

I'm not here to cause a stink for LinkedIn. They will be pleased to know I come with solutions, not problems.

So, their system is AI-based, right? They've invested a chunk of money, and obviously, any changes to the system will bring about a cost.

But how about having a tickbox in the verification process for the minority of people whose profiles do not match their official documentation? By ticking this box, a space pops up for free text to explain the name mismatch and allows for attachments such as legal documentation to be uploaded, which, when submitted, is reviewed by a human.

This means we could submit marriage and divorce certificates or a change of name deed.

Above all, I encourage LinkedIn to allow women or members of the LGBTQIA+ community to use their maiden name or married name as per their personal preference.

And it's ok, LinkedIn; you don't need to get your panties in a pivot. After all, name deviations will be outlined in legal documentation, meaning they are already verified, and you will have a paper trail of this should you need it.

Yes, I know this solution will incur a cost.

Of course, you can't please all of the people all of the time. But when it's women and the LGBTQIA+ community consistently being disadvantaged, we have an equality issue.

I can't help but think it's better for businesses to incur an extra cost and be regarded as a fair, equitable and inclusive company than continue to perpetuate a system that's riddled with sexism and gender biases.

What do you think?

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