"paper ceiling" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "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.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?"
      },
      "expansion": "paper ceiling",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Business",
          "orig": "en:Business",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Education",
          "orig": "en:Education",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Forms of discrimination",
          "orig": "en:Forms of discrimination",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "word": "gray ceiling"
        },
        {
          "word": ";"
        },
        {
          "word": "more at glass ceiling § Coordinate terms"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "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."
      ],
      "id": "en-paper_ceiling-en-noun-YNekwu6r",
      "links": [
        [
          "informal",
          "informal"
        ],
        [
          "unacknowledged",
          "unacknowledged"
        ],
        [
          "barrier",
          "barrier"
        ],
        [
          "promotion",
          "promotion"
        ],
        [
          "advancement",
          "advancement"
        ],
        [
          "employment",
          "employment"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "ceiling paper"
        },
        {
          "word": "credentialism"
        },
        {
          "word": "sheepskin effect"
        },
        {
          "word": "the more you know, the higher you go"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "paper ceiling"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "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.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?"
      },
      "expansion": "paper ceiling",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "ceiling paper"
    },
    {
      "word": "credentialism"
    },
    {
      "word": "sheepskin effect"
    },
    {
      "word": "the more you know, the higher you go"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English nouns with unknown or uncertain plurals",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "en:Business",
        "en:Education",
        "en:Forms of discrimination"
      ],
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "word": "gray ceiling"
        },
        {
          "word": ";"
        },
        {
          "word": "more at glass ceiling § Coordinate terms"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "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."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "informal",
          "informal"
        ],
        [
          "unacknowledged",
          "unacknowledged"
        ],
        [
          "barrier",
          "barrier"
        ],
        [
          "promotion",
          "promotion"
        ],
        [
          "advancement",
          "advancement"
        ],
        [
          "employment",
          "employment"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "paper ceiling"
}