glass ceiling 
noun
An unacknowledged barrier to advancement in a profession, especially affecting women and members of minorities: the first female to break through the glass ceiling in Engineering...
- Even with your defense of the article, it seems to me that she is blaming women for the glass ceiling that limits their advancement.
- Successful initiatives for breaking the glass ceiling to upward mobility for minorities and women.
- The minority of women who do break through the glass ceiling manage only because they rely on an army of other women who don't.