ELAINE UNTERHALTER is Professor of Education and International Development at the Institute of Education, University of London, UK and the co-ordinator of a number of research projects on gender and education in Africa. She teaches on postgraduate courses and has published widely on gender, education and questions of equality. VINCENT CARPENTIER is Senior Lecturer in History of Education at the Institute of Education, University of London, UK. He is the Programme Leader of the MA in Higher and Professional Education. His comparative research on the relationship between educational systems, long economic cycles and social change is located at the interface of the history of education and political economy.