Adaptive methodology and intellectual activism: teaching gender in Indonesian universities

University systems in Indonesia are transforming, with implications for teaching and learning processes. These changes have influenced how gender and women’s knowledge production have evolved, especially within development conditions that have affected women and men differently. This research is derived from Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with women lecturers on how they translate gender and women’s knowledge production into teaching gender. It aims to analyse the settings and challenges of teaching gender in Indonesia’s universities, with the background of inequality and Indonesia’s political-socio-cultural context. Methods of teaching and the intellectual activism of women lecturers in promoting, advocating, and sustaining gender equality have provided relevance while minimising the potential of widening the gender gap. The findings make key contributions to the literature on gender and development, signifying that teaching gender is a method of empowering students to achieve education equality, and especially to improve women’s participation in development processes.