Despite higher education openness to the inclusion of women and increasing external pressures for institutions to adopt an equal discourse on gender but also on ethnicity, under neoliberalism the dichotomous construction of men and women has not been deconstructed. Although the number of women in higher education increased, horizontal and vertical segregation persist, questioning the dominant idea of universities as democratic, plural and equitable spaces. Management and leadership positions are reserved to the 'ideal academics' who, in a neoliberal context, are defined as hard workers, competitive individuals. This ideal-type is also aligned with the hegemonic masculinity values. Different notions of masculinity have been emerging in society, more caring oriented. This is also evidenced in Portugal. The way masculinity is intertwined with neoliberalism and how it can contribute to create or eliminate tensions between the productivity demands of professional life and personal and family responsibilities is still little investigated. Based on a case study in a Portuguese university, the aim of this article is to expose the way neoliberal policies impose an ideal academic leader aligned with a careerist masculinity that values commitment to work over care and family responsibilities. This dominant masculinity allows the reproduction of gender inequalities inside of the academy, based on subtle inequalities sustained on: i) a hard worker philosophy that maintains more caring and balanced professionals as 'others'; ii) the construction of the idea that work-life balance is an individual and not an institutional problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]