職場新詞:什麼是"銀色屋頂"

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

　　“銀色屋頂”（silver ceiling）指工作單位中存在的阻止上年紀的員工升職或者承擔更多工作責任的那種歧視的態度。

　　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.

　　“銀色屋頂”的英文表達silver ceiling是由肯 迪特沃德首創的，他曾經寫過一些關注嬰兒潮一代的書，其中包括《年齡波動》（1989）和《年齡力量》（1999）。這個表達其實是glass ceiling（玻璃屋頂）的一個變體。玻璃屋頂指的是工作單位中特別針對女性或少數種族的歧視而導致的一種非官方的或者未明示的上升發展障礙。在 silver ceiling中，屋頂變成“銀色”就代表這種歧視針對的人群是頭髮已經變成銀色的上了年紀的員工。

　　For example:

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

　　我們應該破除“銀色屋頂”的年齡歧視，讓人們在更加寬鬆的環境中追求有意義的工作發展。