It's the Brian Lairor Show on WNYC.

Good morning again, everyone.

You know about the glass ceiling, right?

Do you know about the paper ceiling?

This is how we continue our series on becoming

upwardly mobile without a college degree. If you're trying to get a better job without a four-year

degree, you already know it can be an uphill climb. You might have the skills, you might have the

experience, but your resume doesn't say BA, and that one line can keep you from getting in the door. So today we're going to talk

about that invisible barrier, often called the paper ceiling. It's the set of degree requirements,

hiring software, and outdated assumptions that block millions of workers from better paying jobs,

even though they're qualified. These are workers known as stars,

as we've talked about earlier in this series, stars standing for skilled through alternative

routes. But there's also some good news that's new. A new report from the nonprofit

opportunity at work shows that employers are starting to shift. Some are rethinking degree requirements. Some states are

trying new policies at the political level on this. There is real momentum. So we've talked mostly

in this series so far from the perspective of workers and prospective workers and how they can

get qualified through alternative routes for good jobs.

But today, if you're trying to advance your career without a degree, what should you know about

where the opportunities are and what are employers thinking?

Joining us are Lela O'Kane, Senior Director of Data Projects at Opportunity at Work, out with their

state of the paper ceiling report.

And Cole Knapper, Vice President of People Analytics at Lightcast, a company that tracks real-time hiring data,

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