The authors wish to acknowledge support from the Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge, for hosting the symposium from which several of the papers in this special issue were drawn. Presentations from this symposium are available here: http://www.brighton.ac.uk/crome/events/cambridge-journal-of-economics-equal-pay.aspx. The authors are also very grateful for the administrative support provided by Catherine O'Brien in organising the Cambridge symposium, and to Jacqui Lagrue for monitoring the submissions and manuscript revisions.