glass ceiling
English dictionary entry
Meanings
noun
- An unrecognized or unwritten barrier to further progression or promotion, in employment and elsewhere, for a member of a specific demographic group (originally women).
- A barrier to progression that is not obvious.
Pronunciation
/ɡlɑːs ˈsiːlɪŋ/
/ɡlæs-/
/ɡlæs ˈsilɪŋ/
LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-glass ceiling.wav
En-au-glass ceiling.ogg
Word forms
glass ceiling
glass ceilings
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.
Translations
Arabic: السقف الزجاجي
Armenian: ապակե առաստաղ
Azerbaijani: şüşə tavan
Basque: kristalezko sabai
Bengali: গ্লাস সিলিং
Bulgarian: стъклен таван
Catalan: sostre de vidre
Chinese Mandarin: 玻璃天花板
Czech: skleněný strop
Danish: glasloft
Dutch: glazen plafond
Finnish: lasikatto
French: plafond de verre
Galician: teito de cristal
Galician: teito de vidro
Georgian: მინის ჭერი
Georgian: შუშის ჭერი
German: Gläserne Decke
Greek: γυάλινη οροφή
Hebrew: תִּקְרַת זְכוּכִית
Hungarian: üvegplafon
Indonesian: langit-langit kaca
Italian: glass ceiling
Italian: soffitto di cristallo
Italian: soffitto di vetro
Italian: tetto di cristallo
Japanese: ガラスの天井
Korean: 유리천장
Malay: siling kaca
Occitan: plafon de veire
Persian: سقف شیشهای
Polish: szklany sufit
Portuguese: telhado de vidro
Portuguese: teto de vidro
Romanian: plafon de sticlă
Russian: стекля́нный потоло́к
Serbo-Croatian: ста̀кленӣ пла̀фо̄н
Serbo-Croatian: stàklenī plàfōn
Spanish: techo de cristal
Swedish: glastak
Turkish: cam tavan
Ukrainian: скляна́ сте́ля
This entry uses open data from
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