职场英语：什么是“银色屋顶”

有房子的地方自然都有屋顶，有的是玻璃的，有的是红砖绿瓦的，还有的是水泥的。不过，在我们所处的职场，有一种屋顶是看不见、摸不着，但却真实存在的。

Silver ceiling is a set of attitudes and prejudices that prevent older employees from rising to positions of power or responsibility in a workplace。

“银色屋顶”(silver ceiling)指工作单位中存在的阻止上年纪的员工升职或者承担更多工作责任的那种歧视的态度。

The term “silver ceiling” was coined by Ken Dychtwald, the author of several books on the baby boom generation, including Age Wave (1989) and Age Power (1999). It is a play on glass ceiling, an unofficial or unacknowledged impediment to advancement in a workplace due to discrimination, especially against women or minorities. In this case, the ceiling is silver to represent the hair color of a typical older worker。

“银色屋顶”的英文表达silver ceiling是由肯?迪特沃德首创的，他曾经写过一些关注婴儿潮一代的书，其中包括《年龄波动》(1989)和《年龄力量》(1999)。这个表达其实是glass ceiling(玻璃屋顶)的一个变体。玻璃屋顶指的是工作单位中特别针对女性或少数种族的歧视而导致的一种非官方的或者未明示的上升发展障碍。在 silver ceiling中，屋顶变成“银色”就代表这种歧视针对的人群是头发已经变成银色的上了年纪的员工。

For example:

We should smash the "silver ceiling" of age discrimination and make it easier for people to pursue meaningful employment in maturity。

我们应该破除“银色屋顶”的年龄歧视，让人们在更加宽松的环境中追求有意义的工作发展。