Glass ceiling
The metaphor was first made by feminists to talk about why it is harder for high-achieving women to get promotions than men. In the US, the concept is sometimes used to refer to minorities based not on gender. Women of color in countries whose population is mostly white people often find the most difficulty in "breaking the glass ceiling" because they are both women and people of color, two types of people who were not liked in the past. East Asian and East Asian American news outlets have made a used a metaphor taken from the original, the term "bamboo ceiling". It tries to show white people not liking East Asians, as bamboo is from Asia.