Feminist Praxis and Pedagogical Approaches in Higher Education in Pakistan
Keywords:
Feminist Pedagogy, Feminist Praxis, Higher Education, Gender and Education, Critical PedagogyAbstract
This study critically examines the intersection of feminist praxis and pedagogical approaches in higher education in Pakistan, exploring how feminist ideas of inclusivity, empowerment, and reflexivity are integrated within teaching and learning processes. Adopting a qualitative research design, the study employs content analysis of secondary data drawn from peer-reviewed journal articles, policy documents, and academic publications, and selected 113 published research documents through purposive sampling. The analysis situates feminist pedagogy within Pakistan's socio-cultural and institutional context, marked by patriarchal norms, hierarchical relations, and structural inequalities that shape both educational practices and gendered experiences in academia. The findings reveal that the formal implementation of feminist pedagogy remains limited; however, individual educators and scholars are progressively engaging in contextualized feminist praxis, often reframed in culturally acceptable terms, such as gender sensitivity, inclusive teaching, or empowerment-based learning. The study concludes that feminist praxis in Pakistani higher education is a gradual but significant movement toward educational democratization. It underscores the urgent need for institutional reforms, gender-sensitive pedagogical training, and curriculum development that embed feminist principles across disciplines, thereby providing a roadmap for future action.
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