A glass ceiling is a metaphor usually applied to women, used to represent
an invisible barrier that prevents a given demographic from rising beyond a
certain level in a hierarchy. The metaphor was first used by feminists in
reference to barriers in the careers of high-achieving women. It was coined by
Marilyn Loden during a speech in 1978.
In the United States, the concept is sometimes extended to refer to racial
inequality. Racialised women in white-majority countries often find the most
difficulty in "breaking the glass ceiling" because they lie at the
intersection of two historically marginalized groups: women and people of
color.