paper ceiling

noun

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.

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Meanings

noun
  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.

Origin

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.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

paper ceiling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paper%20ceiling

MLA

“paper ceiling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paper%20ceiling. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paper ceiling,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paper%20ceiling.

Source: paper ceiling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.