Women in the Workplace

Terms of Participation

Welcome to Women in the Workplace! Women in the Workplace is a comprehensive study of the state of women in the workplace. Since 2015, McKinsey & Company, Inc. United States (along with its affiliates, “McKinsey”, “we”, or “us”) has published this report annually to give companies and employees the information they need to support women and gender diversity within their organizations. Each year, hundreds of companies and millions of people participate in this important study.

We will further our research to generate new insights on women in the workplace in the coming year, and McKinsey is excited that your company has elected to participate in the Women in the Workplace study (the “Study”). These Women in the Workplace Terms of Participation (the “agreement”) is an agreement between McKinsey and the legal entity (along with such entity’s affiliates, the “Participant” or “you”) that executes or accepts this agreement and governs your participation in the Study.

Your participation.  There is no fee to you to participate in the Study. To participate in the Study, you and your personnel will be asked to provide certain information and data, including information about your organization directly and/or via one or more surveys (collectively, your “Study Data”). Your Study Data will be combined with similar study data from other participating companies and will be used and incorporated by McKinsey to conduct and publish the Study and its related research and materials as well as to develop longitudinal analyses, benchmarks, research, and publications. This data also informs our client work regarding women in the workplace and related topics. We will at all times protect your Study Data in accordance with this agreement, which includes not using or disclosing your Study Data except as authorized by you and not including it in any publication in a manner that is identified or attributable to you without your express prior consent.

No obligation to participate.  We want you to understand that you are under no obligation to participate or to provide any Study Data. Even if you accept this agreement, you may choose at any time to not provide us with any further Study Data and/or to request that we delete your Study Data, which we will do as described in this agreement. Any Study Data that you do elect to provide will be used and protected as confidential in accordance with this agreement, and you acknowledge that you are authorized to provide us with any such Study Data for our use pursuant to this agreement and that we will have no obligation to independently verify such Study Data.

Lean In’s participation.  In carrying out the Study, McKinsey collaborates with The Sandberg Goldberg Bernthal Family Foundation, aka LeanIn.org (“Lean In”). Lean In will receive only information and data that is aggregated across multiple Study participants, and McKinsey will not provide Lean In with your specific Study Data in a manner identified with or attributable to you.

Your customized results.  As part of your participation in the Study, we may provide you with a report or other analyses that are customized to your organization, including benchmarking results specific to your organization (collectively, your “Study Results”). Your Study Results are provided to you solely for your information and lawful internal use, including in compliance with any applicable antitrust/competition laws, and you agree that you will not circulate, quote, disclose or otherwise reproduce for distribution your Study Results, or attribute the same to McKinsey, outside of your organization without our prior written approval unless required by law. Your Study Results are provided to you AS IS and without any express or implied warranty, and we will not be liable to you, or any person or entity claiming through you, for any damages or losses of any type relating to or arising out of your use of the Study Results. You retain ownership at all times of the Study Data and Study Results that are furnished by or prepared specifically for you. McKinsey retains ownership at all times of the other Study materials, including the materials used to facilitate the Study (such as questionnaires) and the publications and other materials resulting from the Study (including the final, published report).

Our commitment to confidentiality and security.  McKinsey will keep confidential any Study Data, including any personal data (as defined below), that you furnish to us in connection with the Study (collectively, your “Confidential Information”). McKinsey will disclose your Study Data only to its personnel, agents and contractors who have a need to know and are bound to keep it confidential, will use your Study Data only as authorized by this agreement or as otherwise agreed by you in writing, and will protect your Study Data as “Confidential Information” in accordance with the McKinsey Data Protection Protocols available at https://www.mckinsey.com/womenintheworkplace-agreement/dpp.pdf. To bring the best of our global resources to the Study, we may transfer your Study Data to geographies other than those in which it was collected or received, including to McKinsey affiliates and processors that comprise or support McKinsey’s infrastructure and maintenance functions as set forth in the Protocols, to facilitate any activities authorized by you, provided that at all times your Study Data will be treated as confidential and protected in accordance with the terms of this agreement. “Study Data” shall not include information or data that is or becomes publicly available without breach of this agreement, is already known to McKinsey without a duty of confidentiality, is independently acquired or developed by McKinsey without breach of this agreement, is aggregated and/or anonymized such that the information cannot be linked or attributed to you, or is legally required to be disclosed.

Deleting or returning your data. If you notify us in writing we will promptly delete or return any Study Data that you may request that is in our possession or control. However, we may retain a copy of your Study Data if we are required to do so by applicable law, regulation or documented professional archival policy, or if we are otherwise authorized or instructed by you. To the extent Study Data has already been incorporated into research or analyses in connection with the Study, including into aggregate data, analyses or other research, such research and analyses may continue to be used by McKinsey, but your raw, entity-specific Study Data will not be included in new research and analyses going forward. Any Study Data that we retain will at all times remain subject to the confidentiality, security and non-disclosure provisions of this agreement.

Our commitment to privacy.  If any of your Study Data includes data which relates to an identified or identifiable person (“personal data”), McKinsey shall (i) comply with its obligations under applicable data privacy laws, (ii) process such personal data, including with respect to McKinsey’s use of subcontractors or processors, as set forth in this agreement and the Protocols, as otherwise authorized in writing by you, or as required by applicable law, (ii) implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect such personal data as set forth in the Protocols, and (iii) promptly notify you of any incident in which the confidentiality, integrity or security of the personal data has been compromised. While we serve as a controller with respect to personal data received directly from individuals as part of the Study, the parties agree that they shall operate as co-controllers, and to ensure an adequate level of data protection, agree that the standard contractual clauses applicable to McKinsey’s processing of the data pursuant to this agreement, available at https://www.mckinsey.com/womenintheworkplace-agreement/sccs.pdf, be deemed automatically incorporated into this agreement and binding upon the parties hereto, including their affiliates, unless an alternate data transfer arrangement authorized by applicable law is agreed by the parties. We will promptly respond to and use commercially reasonable measures to comply in full with your reasonable requests for information and assistance, as may be necessary for you to comply with applicable law. Without limiting the foregoing, we will upon request furnish information regarding our processing activities in connection with the Study as is reasonably necessary to enable you to verify that we are complying with our obligations under this agreement, including by making our Director of IT Security or person of comparable knowledge and position available to provide information about the Protocols and our processing in connection with the Study.  The foregoing shall apply in full satisfaction of any of your audit or inspection rights of McKinsey in connection with our processing pursuant to this agreement, but shall not limit or restrict the ability of any legal or regulatory authority to conduct such audit or inspection pursuant to applicable law.

Choosing to publicize your participation.  Should you elect to fully participate in the Study, McKinsey may contact you closer to the publication of the Study results to ask if you would like to be identified as one of the participants in the Study, including on the Study website for the current study year. If you agree, we will use your company logo on the Study website solely for the purpose of identifying you as a Study participant. We will not use your logo or other trademarks in connection with the Study without your express additional written permission. Similarly, you agree that you will not disclose any of your Study Results, or other non-public materials (such as enrollment materials and questionnaires) that we furnish to you in connection with the Study, to any third parties (other than your individual independent contractors engaged as part of your extended workforce who are bound by confidentiality, nondisclosure and nonuse obligations consistent with this agreement) without our prior written permission. Except as expressly set forth herein, each party further agrees not to use the other party’s name or trademarks in any communication with any third party without the other party’s prior written permission.

Export control and sanctions. For purposes of this section, a Party is defined as each contracting entity, including its directors, officers, and affiliates (“Party”). In performing this agreement, each Party agrees to comply with applicable sanctions, export control, import control, and antiboycott laws (“Trade Control Laws”), including, but not limited to EU, UK, and U.S. laws, and neither Party shall cause the other to violate or to be penalized under such Trade Control Laws. Neither Party is a Restricted Party (as defined below) and neither will use anything received from the other Party in connection with a Restricted Party, Russia, the Government of Venezuela, or a comprehensively sanctioned jurisdiction under Trade Control Laws. A Restricted Party is an individual or entity that (i) is identified on a restricted party list under Trade Control Laws, or is owned 50% or more by, controlled by, or acting on behalf of, such a person(s) or entity(ies), or (ii) is organized under the laws of, ordinarily resident in, or acting on behalf of a person or entity located in Russia or any comprehensively sanctioned jurisdiction under Trade Control Laws. Each Party agrees to promptly inform the other in writing if it becomes a Restricted Party. Neither Party will provide to the other anything for which government authorization is required under Trade Control Laws without explaining to the other Party what government authorization is required and obtaining the other Party’s prior written consent.

Further acknowledgements.  In carrying out the Study, we will work with many participants, in addition to you; the Study is not exclusive to you. You further acknowledge and agree that the Study is not a consulting engagement between McKinsey and you, and that we – including our personnel who may support your participation in the Study – are not acting as a consultant to you, and that both we and such individuals may have served, may currently be serving, or may in the future serve any of the other participants in the Study, or any other company, on any matters, and that this does not constitute a conflict of interest. You acknowledge that your participation in the Study is provided free of charge, and you agree that, to the extent permitted by law, you will indemnify and hold us harmless from any damages we suffer or losses (including attorneys’ fees) that we incur in connection with our participation in any legal, regulatory, administrative or other proceeding as a result of, or relating to, your participation in the Study, except to the extent that our participation is a result of our material breach of the terms of this agreement and that McKinsey shall have no liability to you, or any party claiming through you, in connection with the Study or pursuant to this agreement except in the event of our gross negligence or willful misconduct. In no event will either of us be liable to the other for any lost profits or other indirect, consequential, incidental, punitive or special damages. McKinsey does not supplant your management or other decision-making bodies and does not guarantee results.  You remain solely responsible for your decisions, actions, use of the Study Results and compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. 

General provisions. This agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and McKinsey with respect to the subject matter described herein, and there are no prior or contemporaneous oral or written representations, understandings or agreements relating to this subject matter that are not fully expressed herein or therein.  This agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without regard to conflicts of law principles and shall inure to the benefit of and be binding on the successors and assigns of each party to the agreement. This agreement may be terminated by either party at any time, provided that the terms of this agreement, including the rights and obligations with respect to the use and protection of your Study Data, shall survive such termination. Neither party may assign its rights or obligations under this agreement to any person or entity without the written consent of the other party, not to be unreasonably withheld, provided, however, that either party may assign its rights and obligations under this agreement to its affiliates upon reasonable written notice to the other party but without the written consent of the other party. Assignment shall not relieve either party of its obligations hereunder. McKinsey is an independent contractor and not your agent or fiduciary. Notwithstanding any course of dealings of the parties at any time or any statement to the contrary contained therein, no purchase order, invoice or other similar document issued by a party shall be construed to modify the terms of this agreement. Rights and remedies provided in this agreement are cumulative and not exclusive of any right or remedy provided at law or in equity.