FIONA DEVINE is Professor of Sociology, University of Manchester, UK. She is the author of Social Class in America and Britain (Edinburgh University Press, 1997) and the co-author, with Sue Heath, of Sociological Research Methods in Context (Palgrave, 1999).

MIKE SAVAGE is Professor of Sociology and Head of the Department of Sociology at Manchester University, UK. He is the author of a number of books, including Gender, Careers and Organisations, with Susan Halford and Anne Witz (Palgrave 1997) and Social Change and Class Cultures in Contemporary Britain (Open University Press, 2001).

JOHN SCOTT is Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex, UK. He is the author of many books, including Who Rules Britain? (Polity 1991) and Stratification and Power (Polity 1996).

ROSEMARY CROMPTON is Professor of Sociology and Director of Research at City University, UK. She is the author of arguably the leading textbook on class, Class and Stratification (second edition) published by Polity, as well as the author of Women and Work in Modern Britain and Restructuring Gender Relations and Employment.