ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Glass escalator

Imagine you're at the playground and you want to climb up the slide. There are two ways to do it: you can use the ladder or you can slide down and climb up the slide on the other side. Now, imagine there's also a special kind of slide that only grown-ups can use, and it's called the Glass Escalator.

The Glass Escalator is like a really big and fancy slide that some grown-ups get to use when they have a job. Instead of climbing up a ladder or climbing up a regular slide, they get put on this special slide that makes them move really quickly up to higher jobs.

But not everyone can use the Glass Escalator. Some grown-ups have a harder time using it because they are not always treated the same way as other grown-ups. For example, some people might think that only boys can use the Glass Escalator, or only certain kinds of people. This unfair treatment can make it harder for some grown-ups to get the higher jobs.

So, the Glass Escalator is like a special slide that some grown-ups use to get higher jobs. But sometimes, unfair treatment can make it harder for certain grown-ups to use the Glass Escalator and get those higher jobs.