Despite generational divides in the workplace, Gen Z, millennial, Gen X and baby boomer women all want to get ahead and further their careers, but there is one major difference, wrote Ellen C. Taaffe, a professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, in Fast Company.

“Although that ambition is nearly universal, ... there is a key difference: Younger women expect to get what they want, whereas boomer women, who were often among the first to break through in their fields, grasped the opportunities they could get and took them with gratitude,” wrote Taaffe, who is also a former Fortune 50 executive, a board director, a leadership coach, a speaker, and an award-winning author. Her latest book is The Mirrored Door: Break Through the Hidden Barrier that Locks Successful Women in Place.

Given her decades of experience, Taaffe presented three things that she learned while teaching multiple generations of professional women.

One is that women are well prepared and wanting more. Calling the term lazy girl jobs “a gross misnomer,” she cited the ninth annual Women in the Workplace study by LeanIn.org and McKinsey in asserting that “women are preparing themselves through experience and education and are more ambitious than ever.” The study found that nine out of 10 women ages 30 and under wanted to be promoted to the next level, and three out of four aspired to senior leadership one day.

Writing that the majority of young professional women she coaches, counsels and converses with want to lead, make an impact and gain bigger opportunities than are currently coming their way, she noted that they want to work differently, especially when it comes to having greater flexibility. “To call this “lazy” is ridiculous,” she wrote. “[I]f anything, it is smarter and savvier, and companies should pay attention.”

Taaffe's second lesson is to battle barriers to advancement early and often. Those obstacles can wear women down, especially when they come in the form of microaggressions that are signs of an outdated culture.

After being asked by a recent woman MBA graduate how to be taken seriously, instead of being dismissed as junior due to her sex and age, Taaffe advised her “to disrupt the perception, such as by leading with her title or function” and to “[g]et the endorsement of allies in the room” by being introduced as someone with experience.

Taaffe's third lesson is choosing change. If women don’t see the expected outcomes they want from the investments they make in their careers, they can work to make changes, she wrote.

“Sometimes that means advocating for a better workplace culture, with more flexibility, feedback, financial fairness, and a future,” she wrote. “If not, they’ll choose the exit door and join (or create) organizations that have inclusive environments in which women managers and leaders can grow, develop, and find more opportunity.”

Taaffe concluded by discussing what leaders can do to effect change: "Only by using data can companies unearth and address inequities (in promotion, pay, satisfaction, sense of belonging, etc.) by gender, level, and intersectionality (for example, for women of color and gay women). Only by seeing where the barriers exist can leaders initiate positive culture changes."