The gender divide in business has long been a topic of conversation in discussion forums, water cooler chats, and HR blogs. However, times are changing. So does the glass ceiling still exist? Is there still an old boys’ club in the office? According to @InsideTech, women do still face a glass ceiling in the workplace. Women still only earn 77 cents for every dollar that men earn. Women are often the ones staying home with sick children, while men are seen as the “breadwinners” even if their income is close in number to their female partners. It would be wonderful to see all of this change in my lifetime, but only time will tell. Nevertheless, there are some interesting changes coming in regards to the gender divide because of the influx of millennials in the workplace today.

In October, The Daily Beast reporter Lizzie Crocker recently dismissed Hillary Clinton as a legit feminist because she’s too “outdated” and “mainstream” on women’s issues. Of course, Crocker may have put some of the blame for this on Clinton’s generational identification as a baby boomer. More recently, Los Angeles Times columnist, Meghan Daum (a self-proclaimed Generation Xer) countered this opinion by Crocker and argued that Clinton is, in fact, a feminist. So what’s the story? Clinton herself does identify as a feminist, and is in support of women’s issues. However, she is criticized for not being liberal enough in her views of women’s rights according to some millennial opinions. But to say someone is or is not a feminist, based on whether they subscribe to the latest definition and gender theory, is a little harsh. A feminist, put simply, is someone who believes women should have equal rights and opportunities. So instead of bashing each other for subscribing to one school of thought over another, let’s embrace those who believe we all deserve equality and opportunity, regardless of social, economic, political, ethnic, racial, or gender identity factors.

The generational differences in the workforce clearly impact more than just the day-to-day operations of innovative, tech-savvy millennials vs. procedure-oriented, loyal baby boomers. The generational differences bleed into so many larger issues and ideas of thought, that it cannot be ignored. As we enter an interesting (to say the least) season of politics in 2016, it is critical for workplace leaders and human resources professionals to keep these notions in mind as we implement change and call for action at work.