From pure academics to transformative scholars? The crisis of the “ideal academic” in a Peruvian university

Abstract

In the last 2 decades, the Latin American university has embarked on a shift toward increasing scientific production, following a pattern common to much of the Global North. Few studies have analyzed how this process has had a differentiated impact on male and female scholars. In dialog with previous studies, we explore the changing nature of the “ideal academic,” accounting for its gendered character in an historically and culturally specific context. Based on a qualitative study, we describe the crisis of a model that idealized theoretical work and exclusive dedication to academia, and show that, in a broader context of feminist mobilizations, a critical discourse is emerging, stressing the need to bridge academic life and professional and political concerns. We seek to contribute to studies on changes in the Latin American academy illustrating the gendered ways through which the neoliberal university ends up being contested in the Global South.