Men and masculiniities in academia, higher education and science: approaches, applications and actions

This chapter examines academia, higher education and science through the lens of critical studies on men and masculinities, through the interrogation of three key interconnected aspects. First, approaches to the study of men and masculinities are reviewed in terms of the main characteristic features of contemporary critical theorizing,research and debates on men and masculinities, including on masculinities theory and some critiques thereof. Second, applications that link academia, higher education and science to critical analysis of men and masculinities are discussed in terms of: a) the situation of gendered individuals, men’s individual academic identities and men’s gendered careers; b) how academia and science are practiced, organized and managed within academic organizations and organizational cultures; and c) broader questions of gendered knowledge, including the relevance of gender for the construction of scientific knowledge itself, in the research process and knowledge production. The final part of the chapter focuses on actions, at individual and interpersonal, organizational, and national and transnational levels of intervention in changing men and masculinities in academia, higher education and science