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Definition 2024


silver_ceiling

silver ceiling

English

Noun

silver ceiling (uncountable)

  1. An informal (and often unacknowledged) barrier to promotion or advancement, in employment and elsewhere, for middle-aged and elderly people.
    • 2007, Jeri Sedlar & Rick Miners, Don't Retire, Rewire!, Alpha Books (2007), ISBN 9781592576890, page 239:
      Although society won't change its negative impressions about aging overnight, we are beginning to see real cracks in the "silver ceiling," the point at which age becomes a serious obstacle to employment.
    • 2015, Matthew Hall, Metrosexual Masculinities, Palgrave Macmillan (2015), ISBN 9781137404749, page 44:
      He notes that the consumption of hair-colouring and hair-loss products, along with moisturisers, pedicures, facials and even cosmetic surgery by middle-aged men has increased over recent decades in order to avoid the 'silver ceiling'.
    • 2015, Charles R. McConnell, The Effective Health Care Supervisor, Jones & Bartlett Learning (2015), ISBN 9781284054552, page 503:
      A dramatic increase in age discrimination lawsuits and greatly increased visibility of the problem have done little to alleviate the effects of the perceived “silver ceiling.”

See also