Factors affecting female participation in education in seven developing countries were examined through field visits to the following countries: Bangladesh, Cameroon, India, Jamaica, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, and Vanuatu. In each country, researchers interviewed key personnel, consulted local documentation, and conducted two empirical surveys designed to ascertain the views of gender and education held by primary school pupils and women training to become primary teachers. Nine groups of factors potentially affecting female participation in education were considered: geographical, sociocultural, health, economic, religious, legal, political/administrative, educational, and initiatives. Several factors, including residence in a rural area and the health effects of poverty and malnutrition, proved to affect female participation in education much more than male participation. The near-universal fundamental cultural bias in favor of males and economic factors proved to be the biggest obstacles to female participation in education in developing countries. Religious and legal factors had only indirect effects. Significant initiatives aiming to address aspects of the problem of female participation in education were noted in all seven countries; however, the political will to implement those initiatives policies was largely lacking. (Thirty-three tables/figures and the questionnaires are included. The Seychelles case study is presented as an appendix.) (MN)