Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

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MENTAL MODEL · M2460

Sticky Floor

Sticky Floor
BusinessHigh supportLabor Economics
Included
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

In contrast to the glass ceiling, it refers to women or minorities being 'stuck' in low-level positions early in their careers, finding it difficult to obtain initial promotion opportunities.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Starting point fairness: Be wary of unconscious bias during recruitment and early career development. If the starting line is unfair, many people won't even have the chance to see the ceiling.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

It refers to good policies or intentions getting 'stuck on the floor' and failing to be implemented upward, revealing failures caused by absorption and filtering at the grassroots level in the execution chain.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

  • link
    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_ceilingZH · Explicit
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