What Is a Glass Ceiling?
The phrase glass ceiling refers to an invisible barrier that prevents someone from achieving further success. It is most often used in the context of someone's age, gender, or ethnicity keeping them from advancing to a certain point in a business or when he or she cannot or will not be promoted to a higher level of position/power. Glass ceilings are most often observed in the workplace and are usually a barrier to achieving power and success equal to that of a more dominant population. An example would be a woman who has better skills, talent, and education than her male peers, but is obviously being passed over for promotions.
Glass Ceiling
The glass ceiling metaphor in the business world is a reference to an employee's rise up the ranks of an organization. In theory, nothing prevents a woman from being promoted. However, in practice there are unseen barriers. Workers can see that the higher they are in the company, the more promotions, pay raises, and opportunities they should have. Instead of being able to achieve the same success as peers, those who encounter glass ceilings are stopped by invisible obstacles that prevent them from rising further.