TY - INPR N1 - Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. TI - Pedagogies of care or reproduction of inequality? The banzhuren?s role in Chinese higher education AV - public Y1 - 2025/03/13/ JF - Teaching in Higher Education KW - Relational pedagogies; pedagogies of care; teacher? student relations; Chinese higher education; inequalities of care A1 - Wang, Yuxuan ID - discovery10206237 N2 - The banzhuren is a distinctive hybrid figure in Chinese higher education who combines teaching and caring responsibilities. This study explores the multifaceted role of the banzhuren, through qualitative semi-structured interviews with senior undergraduates and faculty in one Chinese university. Three themes are derived. First, students perceive the banzhuren as a regular professor as well as a safety net, highlighting the unique authority and rapport built with this role. Second, the banzhuren provides constructive suggestions for students? future prospects and cares for their emotional well-being through various means. Third, the banzhuren?s decisive role in the construction of the class committee, akin to a prefect system, grants certain students privileged access to exclusive opportunities. This research highlights that pedagogies of care should be examined through a critical lens which reveals it to be more complex than a seemingly benign practice separate from the reproduction of inequality. // ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????prefect??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? SN - 1356-2517 PB - Informa UK Limited UR - https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2025.2475285 ER -