glass ceiling

== English == === Etymology === From glass +‎ ceiling, a metaphor using ceiling to suggest a barrier to upward mobility, and glass to allude to the often unacknowledged or “invisible” nature of this limitation. The term was coined by the American diversity advocate, management consultant, and writer Marilyn Loden (1946–2022), who referred to the “invisible glass ceiling” during a panel discussion about women’s aspirations in 1978. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɡlɑːs ˈsiːlɪŋ/, /ɡlæs-/ (General American) IPA(key): /ɡlæs ˈsilɪŋ/ Rhymes: -iːlɪŋ Hyphenation: glass ceil‧ing === Noun === glass ceiling (plural glass ceilings) (originally US, idiomatic) An unrecognized or unwritten barrier to further progression or promotion, in employment and elsewhere, for a member of a specific demographic group (originally women). [from 1978] (figurative) A barrier to progression that is not obvious. ==== Coordinate terms ==== ==== Derived terms ==== glass cliff ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === glass ceiling on Wikipedia.Wikipedia “glass ceiling, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2025. “glass ceiling, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. “glass ceiling”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. Eric Partridge (2005), “glass ceiling”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, volume 1 (A–I), London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 873. == Italian == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English glass ceiling. === Noun === glass ceiling m (invariable) glass ceiling