paper ceiling

English

Etymology

paper (a piece of paper being the diploma representing a university or college degree) + ceiling (suggesting a barrier to upward advancement); modeled on glass ceiling, the first of such figurative ceiling terms.

Noun

paper ceiling

  1. An informal (and often unacknowledged) barrier to promotion or advancement, in employment and elsewhere, for people who do not have a university or college degree.
    Coordinate terms: gray ceiling; more at glass ceiling ยง Coordinate terms

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