She feels the bamboo ceiling prevents her from getting a promotion.
bamboo ceiling
idiomA social barrier to further promotion or progression, in employment and elsewhere, for a person of East Asian ethnicity.
Origin
first recorded 21st c.Modeled on glass ceiling, popularized in 2005 by Jane Hyun in Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling, see quotations.
Despite her excellent performance and years of experience, she realized that the bamboo ceiling was blocking her path to senior management.
Sociologists often analyze how the bamboo ceiling functions as an invisible, systemic obstacle that limits the professional advancement of talented employees of East Asian descent.
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brass ceiling
An unwritten, uncodified barrier to promotion or progression for women in law enforcement or the military.
- 02
glass ceiling
An unrecognized or unwritten barrier to further progression or promotion, in employment and elsewhere, for a member of a specific demographic group (originally women).
- 03
scrape someone off the ceiling
Used to describe the response to someone who is either experiencing great pain, who is very frightened, or is very elated.