{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T04:42:30Z","timestamp":1792384950662,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":61,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1792368000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Educ."],"abstract":"<jats:p>The advent of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming academic production and confronting the social sciences with the challenge of preserving critical thinking in the face of mechanically generated content. This research examines the perceptions and practices of social science lecturers and students at Ecuadorian universities regarding the use of AI, together with their motivations, constraints and the institutional policies currently in force. A mixed-methods design was adopted, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. The instruments comprised semi-structured interviews with lecturers and students at national and Ibero-American universities; a non-probabilistic survey of 200 students; and a content analysis of seven sets of regulations from universities in Ecuador, all aligned with the framework of competencies identified by UNESCO-IESALC. The results show a moderate-to-high level of AI use (mean\u2009=\u20093.68), explained by perceived usefulness and extrinsic motivation rather than ease of use, and a gap between the demand for regulation (4.00) and perceived regulatory clarity (3.21); only one of the seven universities has a policy formally designated as such, and ethics predominates over professional and disciplinary development. The study concludes that the governance of AI in Ecuadorian higher education requires an evaluative redesign and discipline-differentiated competencies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/feduc.2026.1948805","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T04:38:22Z","timestamp":1792384702000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Perceptions, practices and governance of generative AI in university social science teaching in Ecuador"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Abel","family":"Suing","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Universidad T\u00e9cnica Particular de Loja","place":["Loja, Ecuador"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jos\u00e9","family":"Marcelino Romero Guti\u00e9rrez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00f3lica del Ecuador Sede Santo Domingo","place":["Santo Domingo, Ecuador"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Viviana Noem\u00ed","family":"Galarza-Lig\u00f1a","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador\u2014Sede Ibarra","place":["Ibarra, Ecuador"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ximena","family":"Coronado-Otavalo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador\u2014Sede Ibarra","place":["Ibarra, Ecuador"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","volume-title":"Ecuador Artificial Intelligence Readiness Assessment Report","author":"Albornoz","year":"2025"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20250116","DOI":"10.1515\/edu-2025-0116","article-title":"The impact of artificial intelligence on the academic performance of university students in Ecuador","volume":"8","author":"Alc\u00edvar-Junco","year":"2026","journal-title":"Open Educ. 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