Pedagogies of care and the breakdown of androcentrism from a feminist epistemology perspective in higher education

Abstract

This article discusses the need to dismantle the androcentric paradigm that has always prevailed in Higher Education (HE), where instrumental rationality and disembodied objectivity are favored over ethics and human relationships. Assuming Feminist Epistemology as an epistemological stance, the research addresses the proposal and analysis of Care Pedagogies as a transformative pedagogy. Methodologically, ADC is used to reveal how the hidden curriculum and evaluation practices in higher education perpetuate gender inequalities. The results reaffirm that care should be recognized as a first-order ethical and professional competence, not as a secondary task. It is concluded that breaking the androcentric mold requires institutionalizing care, transforming policy to recognize and pay teachers’ care work, and challenging the tyranny of meritocracy. The debate refutes inefficiency and argues that care is a requirement of social justice and a condition for inclusive academic excellence. Institutions are invited to move toward a “Caring University” that safeguards the well-being and holistic development of the individual.