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The articles provides information about the special January 1989 issue of the journal "Sociology of Education" which reflects diversity both in research about women and in women's educational experiences. The authors use different methodologies with quantitative data, in-depth interviews and participant observation, and a combination of qualitative and quantitative evidence. The first two articles use states and countries as the unit of observation, while the last three use the individual. The articles examine primary, secondary, postsecondary, and adult education. The articles vary in other ways as well. The call for papers asked for submissions with a feminist perspective, an approach that is often hard to find in standard sociological research. Although more research than in the past is incorporating information on women and addressing topics that are vital to women's lives, few sociologists have developed truly new perspectives on how life is "gendered." Among the manuscripts the journal received for this issue, few could be labeled "feminist," although they all focused on the educational experiences of women and girls in different settings. The articles included vary in the extent to which the authors try to rethink models and theories explaining women's experience.