glass ceiling glass floor A concept with differing definitions, usually held up against the concept of a glass ceiling. Rivera and Owens (2018) described the glass floor as preventing "women low in stereotypically masculine skills from falling below a certain scoring threshold". Daniel laurison and Sam Friedman used the term to describe the socioeconomic barrier to becoming a scientist in the United Kingdom. Nick Clements (2014) described the term as referring to men saying: "There is a glass floor (people not even entering the industry) for men in the healthcare and primary education professions. According to recent figures one in ten nurses are male, this figure has remained static for the past four years. In primary schools, one in four schools have no male staff". glass floors