During the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, our research participants experienced an overload of cognitive and physical care work. This increase in care work held them back, not necessarily from their paid jobs in academia in general, but from one particular activity that the wealth-care oriented university is most focused on: producing wealth in the form of publications. The case of the university may be transferred to other social subsystems and institutions in ou wealth-care societies in all of which men tend to be the most productive, creating the most wealth. Consequently, men have become the most valuable members of society. We therefore call for a system change away from the wealth-care oriented university towards an ethics of care approach in academia. We argue that if the university followed an ethics of care approach with regard to their scientific staff in general, it would prioritize the well-being and flourishing of researchers as individuals, rather than simply treating them as cogs in a wealth-producing machine. An ethics of care approach to academia would prioritize the well-being and flourishing of researchers as individuals, and would seek to create a more supportive and collaborative environment in which researchers can thrive.