brass ceiling

English

Etymology

brass (“indicating high-ranking officers”) + ceiling (“suggesting a barrier to upward advancement”)

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

brass ceiling (plural brass ceilings)

1. (idiomatic) An unwritten, uncodified barrier to promotion or progression for women in law enforcement or the military.
   • 2004, Dorothy Moses Schulz, Breaking the Brass Ceiling: Women Police Chiefs and Their Paths to the Top, Greenwood Publishing, →ISBN:
   • 2007, Breaking Through the Brass Ceiling: Elite Military Women's Strategies for Success, ProQuest., →ISBN:

Related terms

• glass ceiling
• bamboo ceiling
• cotton ceiling

References

• “brass ceiling”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.