thesis identity crisis

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5 The Identity Crisis in Feminist Theory

• Published: January 2006
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Cultural feminists define women by their activities and attributes in the present culture. In contrast, poststructural feminists attack the category and the concept of woman by problematizing subjectivity. Each response has serious limitations, and it has become obvious that transcending these limitations while retaining the theoretical framework from which they emerge is impossible. This chapter discusses the inadequacies of these responses. It then argues that these inadequacies are inherent and develops an alternative response.

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Rollins Scholarship Online

• < Previous

Home > MLS > 50

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

Kafka’s identity crisis: examining the metamorphosis as a response to anti-semitism and assimilation in turn-of-the-century europe.

Sarah B. Classon Follow

Date of Award

Spring 2014

Thesis Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Liberal Studies

R. Barry Levis

Second Advisor

Yudit Greenberg

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis chronicles the bizarre tale of Gregor Samsa’s transformation into an insect and the despairing isolation and personal quest for a meaningful existence that follows. A masterpiece of modern literature, it explores the universal concerns and struggles of Modernity, but also offers insight into the lives of assimilated Jews living in Prague at the turn-of-the-century. The acquisition of basic civil rights afforded European Jews opportunities in education, employment, and housing. Integration into Western society presented new challenges for the Jews as they carved out their new position in European society. The Jews’ difficult task of adapting to Western culture met further challenges from the ambivalent European society still unsure of integration. The new place for Jews as free citizens in Western society made them vulnerable to the pressures of assimilation. Western, most often interpreted as German, culture assisted as protection from anti-Semitism for the obtainment of European culture, in theory would serve as proof of the Jews’ loyalty to state culture. The literature of this time reflects both the anti-Semitic attitudes in politics and in the media and the Jews’ response to assimilation’s effects on their identity. Franz Kafka’s literature transcends the historical context in which it was written but The Metamorphosis reflects the anxiety that pervaded the psyche of assimilated Jews in turn- of-the-century Prague.

Recommended Citation

Classon, Sarah B., "Kafka’s Identity Crisis: Examining The Metamorphosis as a Response to Anti-Semitism and Assimilation in Turn-of-the-Century Europe" (2014). Master of Liberal Studies Theses . 50. https://scholarship.rollins.edu/mls/50

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Identity Crisis, Displacement and Rootlessness in Migrant Literature with Special Reference to Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake

Migration has become a common trend today. Though having an age long history of migration, migration studies have only gained prominence since 1980s and have started to establish itself as a new genre in literature. Migration is a voyage between two cultures in which a migrant is neither able to assimilate the new culture nor able to cast off its root culture and gets tangled in between. The immigrants face the problem of assimilation into the other culture and there is a perpetual push and pull between two traditions. The present paper focuses upon the life struggle of a Bengali couple Ashoke and Ashima who immigrate to America from India and try to incorporate the new culture. They try to keep their roots alive in the foreign land by observing some of the Indian rituals and thus developing a sense of belongingness to their homeland. But for the second generation, the couple had to adopt the tradition of the immigrant country. Gogol and Moushumi often feel as if they are torn and lost between the country of their birth and the values inherited from their parents. Not only Gogol and Moushumi but all other characters are bewildered about their self and are shuttling between two worlds. The present paper explores the theme of displacement and rootlessness in their life and a quest for the self.

Related Papers

Arputhavel Raja

Shashikant Mhalunkar

Every country has its own social cultural and ethnic cryptograph, but no culture has remained homogenous in the present era. Due to the mobility of human beings across the borders of a nation, the socio-cultural values of a society are becoming heterogeneous and hybrid. The social values, customs, religious beliefs, technologies, food habits and products are mixed with the cultural traits of nations and their ethnic values. The present paper attempts to bring out migration, ethnicity and multiculturalism in the novel, The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. Migration and international space facilitate cultural hybridity in the behavioral pattern of the characters who are caught between the cultures of two nations. The paper will also touch upon two different generations and their responses to multiculturalism and international space. Jhumpa Lahiri captures both the cultural encounters and the resultant psychological and emotional crises in the lives of her characters. Lahiri uses her novel as a medium to negotiate the borders of society and culture to implicate identities that move across continents, communities and cultures. The cultural complexities of the second generation migrants are explored by her. Lahiri being a second generation migrant explicates the notions of cultural hybridity and international space. The ethnic markers of the first generation migrants are thrown away by the second generation immigrants and they embrace the culture of the host nation. The ethnic bonds of the homeland are strong with the first generation migrants which are evident in their attempt of celebrations and community gatherings which showcase their ghettoism. The second generation of the migrants, on the other hand, prefers liberty, free sex and mongrelism. Cutting lose from their Indian ethnicity, the second generation migrants attempt to assimilate with the culture of the host nation but they fail to do so. They are seen with a hyphenated identity. Key words: migration, culture, society, ethnicity, cultural hybridity

SMART M O V E S J O U R N A L IJELLH

The Namesake, a novel by Jhumpa Lahiri offers a deep insight into the daily life of a family, who come up to the United States of America but always try to settle, detached from the American ethnicity and traditions. While going through the novel, one gets a deep insight into the predicament of immigrants facing multiple repercussions like mental dilemma, impediments, life oppositions and its disagreements. The aim of this article is the presentation of selected conflicts of assimilation processes among Indian immigrants that appeared in the United States of America in the 1960s, as represented in Jhumpa Lahiri’s most practical, work of fiction The Namesake, with a particular attention on the differences between the first and second age group migrants. The existence stories of Lahiri’s characters, American Bengalis, like Gogol, Sonia, Ashima, and Moushumi illustrate several such conflicts of assimilation. Key words: The Namesake, assimilation, acculturation, nostalgia, immigrant, alienation.

NUTA Journal

Rudra Paudel

This article discusses unhomely home of the diasporas which is constructed geographically and psychologically by encountering the alien culture based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake. The purpose was to highlights recent debate on ‘home’ for immigrant and diasporic people. The notion of home for diasporas has become an injured concept which forces them to face scars and fractures, blisters and sores, and psychic traumas on the move. In such a situation, unhomely home refers to the condition of living here and belonging elsewhere. Jhumpa Lahiritells the story of two generations of Indian family and their struggle to acculturate themselves in the west. She presents a gloomy spectacle of racism, prejudice and marginalization in which Gogol, the son of a Bengali couple, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli, becomes a victim of it. Gogol struggles to transform himself by escaping from the traditions of the community of Indian immigrants to which his family belongs. He also cannot assimilate wi...

Mehmet Recep Taş

Alienation is an unavoidable aspect of modern life. Nevertheless, it is as old as human beings themselves. The analysis of the interaction between the two sides (the oppressors - the oppressed, thesis-antithesis) sheds lights on the emergence of alienation and the ways it exists. The outhors most of whom have experienced the feelings of alienation in the consequence of their culture having been colonized try to explain this relationship through novels and short stories. A daughter of an immigrant couple, Jhumpa Lahiri is one of these postcolonial writers who have been torn between the two cultures. The Namesake, her first novel, skillfully reflects the situation of the diaspora and the feeling of alienation through its Bengali immigrant couple and their son, Gogol. Lahiri lays down certain types of alienation through her characters’ lives adventures. Characters from The Namesake show some certain symptoms of having experienced the feeling of alienation in various form. Considering t...

krishnaveni ganesh , EDITOR IJRCS

AABS Publishing House, Kolkata

The anthology Immigration and Estrangement in Indian Diaspora Literature: A Critical Study attempts to study diasporic sensibilities in writings of Indian Diaspora writers. The book mainly focuses its study on the sense of displacement and dislocation rising due to immigration from homeland to hostland as found in writings of Indian Diaspora writers. Authors have tried to give their best outputs to reach this anthology to its intended goal. Hopefully this book will be helpful to both students and scholars alike.

Surinder Kaur

Indian diaspora pertains to Indian migration, their socioeconomic and cultural experiences, experiences of adaptation and assimilation in the host societies. Literature written by these diasporic writers is clearly inspired by their personal experiences. The pain of migration and displacement felt by these writers flows in their narratives too. Novels and stories are the tales of deep anguish, nostalgia and of rootlessness where characters feel more emotionally and mentally tortured than physical fatigue. Predicament of dual identities i.e of their homelands and of nations they migrated to, corrodes their psyche. In a cosmopolitan world one cannot be a cultural and social outsider in a foreign land for long. Sunetra Gupta in her novels like Memories of Rain and A Sin of Colour presents the intercultural relationships. Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies too pins the Indian migration to US.

university of M'sila

Afshin Asadnasab

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Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America

• John Sides , Michael Tesler , and Lynn Vavreck

A gripping, in-depth account of the 2016 presidential election that explains Donald Trump’s historic victory

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Donald Trump’s election victory stunned the world. How did he pull it off? Was it his appeal to alienated voters in the battleground states? Was it Hillary Clinton and the scandals associated with her long career in politics? Were key factors already in place before the nominees were even chosen? Identity Crisis provides a gripping account of the campaign that appeared to break all the political rules—but in fact didn’t. Identity Crisis takes readers from the bruising primaries to an election night whose outcome defied the predictions of the pollsters and pundits. The book shows how fundamental characteristics of the nation and its politics—the state of the economy, the Obama presidency, and the demographics of the political parties—combined with the candidates’ personalities and rhetoric to produce one of the most unexpected presidencies in history. Early on, the fundamental characteristics predicted an extremely close election. And even though Trump’s many controversies helped Clinton maintain a comfortable lead for most of the campaign, the prediction of a close election became reality when Americans cast their votes. Identity Crisis reveals how Trump’s victory was foreshadowed by changes in the Democratic and Republican coalitions that were driven by people’s racial and ethnic identities. The campaign then reinforced and exacerbated those cleavages as it focused on issues related to race, immigration, and religion. The result was an epic battle not just for the White House but about what America is and should be.

Awards and Recognition

• Winner of the 2019 Richard E. Neustadt Award, Presidents and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association
• "The Most Ominous Book I Read in 2018" (Carlos Lozado, Washington Post)
• One of Vox's 9 Thinkers Who Made Sense of 2018's Chaos

"There is little if any support in voting data for the notion that ‘economic anxiety’ drove people to vote for Trump. As documented in Identity Crisis , an important new book analyzing the 2016 election, what distinguished Trump voters wasn’t financial hardship but ‘attitudes related to race and ethnicity.’"—Paul Krugman, New York Times

"I think it is, without doubt, the most important, most illuminating book written on the 2016 election. And in doing that I think it’s one of the most important books for understanding American politics today. . . . There are so many findings in the book that if you really absorb them they can rock your understanding of politics."—Ezra Klein, Vox

"A vital new work on the political culture of the Trump era."—Carlos Lozada, Washington Post

"One of the most influential books on the 2016 election."—Thomas B. Edsall, New York Times

"The importance of the backlash around race and immigration inside the GOP is a central theme of a timely, careful and data-rich new book on the 2016 election by political scientists John Sides, Michael Tesler and Lynn Vavreck. In Identity Crisis , they argue that Trump understood what was happening inside the party in a way his rivals did not."—E.J. Dionne, Washington Post

"Other academics may also be skeptical of Cyberwar . A forthcoming book on the 2016 campaign, Identity Crisis , by the political scientists John Sides, Michael Tesler, and Lynn Vavreck, argues that Russian interference was not a major factor in the Presidential election, and that the hacked e-mails ‘did not clearly affect’ perceptions of Clinton. Instead, they write, Trump’s exploitation of divisive race, gender, religious, and ethnicity issues accounted for his win."—Jane Mayer, New Yorker

"Under their microscope, the white ‘economic anxiety’ excuse for voting Trump morphs into something completely different, identified by the authors as ‘racialized economics,’ which they define as ‘the belief that undeserving groups are getting ahead while your group is left behind.’"—Charles Jaco, St. Louis American

"With the luxury of hindsight and analytical acumen, political scientists John Sides, Michael Tesler, and Lynn Vavreck have produced an exceptionally well-researched and insightful postmortem that soberly isolates the election’s core significance: a polarizing debate over American identity spurred by immigration and demographic change. The result, Identity Crisis , is a definitive, statistically informed account of the 2016 presidential election."—Justin Gest, American Prospect

"This book is going to remain the definitive explanation of what motivated and differentiated voters from one another in both primary campaigns and the general election in 2016."—Ian Reifowitz, Daily Kos

"[The authors] counter some popular assumptions about the surprising outcome of the 2016 presidential election, which pitted two ‘historically unpopular presidential candidates’ against each other. . . . The authors cite three main reasons for Trump's victory: ‘fractured ranks’ within the Republican Party that impeded party leaders from coalescing behind any candidate; outsized media coverage of Trump that made him appear to be the front-runner even when coverage focused on scandals; and ‘racialized economics,’ in which racial attitudes ‘shaped the way voters understood economic outcomes.’ . . . A cogent, well-documented analysis of the 2016 election."— Kirkus

" Identity Crisis , a 2018 book by leading political scientists John Sides, Michael Tesler, and Lynn Vavreck, is the best guide to understanding why these demographic divisions are so stark and getting starker. The book is framed as a postmortem of the 2016 presidential election, but is in fact a sweeping account of the big picture in American politics over the past several decades."—Zack Beauchamp, Vox

"The definitive account of the 2016 election."—Alex Shephard, New Republic

"The most thorough social science analysis of the 2016 election."—Ilya Somin, Reason

"This is the best, most dispassionate analysis of 2016 that I have seen."—George Hawley, Law & Liberty

" Identity Crisis offers a strong and somewhat counter-intuitive thesis about the 2016 presidential election."— Survival

"After having spent years attempting to understand political and security dynamics in other countries beset by division, I, like many other Americans, am struggling to understand what’s happening in my own country. Identity Crisis provides a data-driven key for decoding the 2016 election, whose outcome was influenced more heavily than recent ones by racial and ethnic identity. The implications, although informative, are not comforting."—Stephen Tankel, War on the Rocks

“Lucid, engaging, and ruthlessly rational, Identity Crisis is the guide we needed to what really happened in 2016, an election we still haven’t come to terms with. After all the speculation and partisan blame, the authors’ search for the real answers isn’t just interesting—it’s necessary. Identity Crisis is about more than an election: it’s about the state of America at a moment of political breakdown.”—Molly Ball, national political correspondent, Time

“Sides, Tesler, and Vavreck offer context and a sense of proportion at a time of rapid change, misinformation, and uncertainty, helping us to untangle familiar patterns from what is genuinely new. Thoughtful, patient, and timely, Identity Crisis is an antidote to the hot takes of our political era.”—John F. Dickerson, author of Whistlestop and On Her Trail

“Donald Trump’s victory stunned most political observers and set off a debate that’s still raging about its causes and meaning. John Sides, Michael Tesler, and Lynn Vavreck supply a vital missing element: the data undergirding their penetrating and accessible analysis of the most shocking presidential outcome in modern history. Identity Crisis is the Rosetta stone for understanding what really happened in the 2016 election.”—Joshua Green, author of Devil’s Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency

“ Identity Crisis presents the most thorough, nuanced, and astute analysis of the 2016 presidential election I have seen. It makes a powerful case that identity politics rather than economic distress was the driving force behind Trump’s victory, and in doing so offers deep insight into the current state of American politics. A must-read for anyone trying to understand how we got to this singular moment.”—Gary C. Jacobson, coauthor of The Logic of American Politics

“Sides, Tesler, and Vavreck provide the most thorough, in-depth, and exhaustive explanation for the 2016 presidential election yet written. Carefully examining a panoply of potential factors influencing both the primaries and the general election, they sort the wheat from the chaff, examining both the myths and reality of Donald Trump’s ultimate rise.”—Diana C. Mutz, author of In-Your-Face Politics: The Consequences of Uncivil Media

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The learner identity of adolescents with trajectories of resilience: the role of risk, academic experience, and gender

• Open access
• Published: 22 May 2024

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• Jose Antonio Matías-García   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3832-3804 1 ,
• Mercedes Cubero   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0417-4246 1 ,
• Andrés Santamaría   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1191-9536 1 &
• Miguel Jesús Bascón   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0226-8943 1  

In at-risk areas of social exclusion, a higher number of adolescents drop out of school. Dropout from compulsory education and early school leaving are associated with unemployment, poverty, and greater health problems, posing a significant threat to the youth’s development and wellbeing. Nevertheless, some students manage to pursue formal education even in high-risk areas, exhibiting resilience. Interwoven between the processes of risk and resilience, the students’ identity development plays a vital role. The present study aimed to analyze the learner identity of students who exhibit a resilience trajectory in areas at risk of social exclusion, and its relation to the degree of risk they face, their academic experience, and their gender. The sample consisted of 132 students from at-risk neighborhoods in Spain who successfully completed compulsory secondary education and continued beyond that level. To measure their academic selves, a modified version of the Twenty Statement Test (TST) was used, which was analyzed using a category system that included four dimensions: organization of the self, emotional valence, plane of action, and thematic reference. The results indicate the participants primarily used personal, positive, evaluative self-descriptions related to the academic world, mostly based on effort. A higher degree of risk was associated to more self-descriptions referring good relationships with others and class attendance, while higher academic experience was associated to more independent selves. The study also found several gender differences. The implications of these findings for research and social intervention in at-risk contexts are discussed.

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Introduction

In 2022, 12.3 million people, which accounts for 26% of the Spanish population, were at risk of poverty and/or social exclusion, according to the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN, 2023 ). Social exclusion is a structural and multidimensional process that affects various spheres, including the economic, labor, educational, socio-health, residential, relational, and participatory (Contreras-Montero, 2020 ; Hernández, 2010 ). One of the most significant factors related to social exclusion is the lack of access to formal education. Individuals with limited formal education have reduced access to employment and participation, increased health problems, and are more likely to fall into poverty (Hernández, 2010 ; Moreno, 2015 ).

Dropping out of the educational system is a significant issue in Spain. Early school leaving (ESL) is defined as the percentage of students between 18 and 24 years of age who have not completed and are not currently studying any type of post-compulsory education (Eurostat, 2022 ). In 2022, Spain had a percentage of 13.9%, which is one of the highest rates among European countries ( X̅ = 9.6%) (Eurostat, 2022 ). Students can also drop out without finishing compulsory studies. In the scientific literature, school dropout is attributed to a process of progressive disengagement of students from the educational system (Mena et al., 2010 ).

Students who drop out generally refer to discourses of deficit, to a perceived lack of ability to complete their studies, and place a low value to formal education (Romero & Hernández, 2019 ). These students often encounter multiple risk factors that increase the likelihood of dropping out of formal schooling. Most of these factors are associated with social and economic inequalities, such as low levels of education and poverty in the family (Bayón-Calvo et al., 2021 ; EAPN, 2023 ; Huisman & Smits, 2015 ). Conflicting relationships with teachers and/or family members (Romero & Hernández, 2019 ) are also related.

In addition, gender is considered a significant risk factor in the literature. Male students tend to drop out of school more frequently than their female counterparts (Eurostat, 2022 ). This trend may be attributed to gender roles, as men often face greater pressure to enter the labor market (Bayón-Calvo et al., 2021 ; Ruiz et al., 2013 ). Additionally, male gender socialization can make it challenging for adolescents to integrate into school, as it is sometimes incompatible with maintaining status within their group of friends (Reay, 2018 ). Males exhibit more behavioral problems than females, which can impede their integration into school and their relationship with teachers (Fortin et al., 2010 ).

In institutional and organizational contexts, factors such as school segregation both between and within schools (Save the Children, 2019 ) and the higher rate of teacher turnover in areas at risk of social exclusion (Allen et al., 2018 ; Llorent-Bedmar et al., 2021 ) hinder students’ school attainment. The presence of more risk factors increases the likelihood of students dropping out of school (Rouse et al., 2020 ). Therefore, areas at risk of social exclusion are the most affected. We can consider that social class and inequalities are at the root of students’ school attainment and success (Save the Children, 2019 ).

However, even in areas of higher risk, some students complete their compulsory studies and continue with further formal schooling. The concept of resilience helps define these situations for study. Resilience refers to the process of successfully coping or recovering in the face of adverse situations (Gartland et al., 2019 ; Toland & Carrigan, 2011 ). It comprises two elements: significant exposure to severe risk and evidence of positive adaptation despite such risk (Masten, 2007 ). In the educational context, positive adaptation refers to a student’s ability to perform adequately in school, achieving similar or better results than the normative population that does not face risk (Masten et al., 2006 ; Lessard et al., 2014 ; Longás et al., 2019 ).

It is essential to emphasize that resilience should be understood as an interactive and dynamic process that involves individuals, families, schools, and communities (Gartland et al., 2019 ; Toland & Carrigan, 2011 ). It is not an ability or a characteristic of individuals, and does not make people invulnerable, even if achieved in a specific context under certain conditions. If the conditions are altered, individuals who exhibit resilience may no longer demonstrate it. In this sense, the concept of resilience constitutes a definition of situations of positive adaptation in the face of adversity, and not an explanation of such adaptation (Matías-García, 2022 ).

Precisely, for resilience to occur, risk factors must be controlled by protective factors, defined as such because they allow or facilitate positive adaptation in individuals (Gartland et al., 2019 ). Protective factors against ESL in situations of social exclusion may include greater public spending on scholarships and grants (Alegre & Benito, 2010 ), opportunities for family participation in school (Borman & Overman, 2004 ), and the formation of supportive relationships with family, teachers, and/or other students (Lessard et al., 2014 ; Longás et al., 2019 ), among others (Matías-García, 2022 ; Matias-Garcia et al., 2024 ). Protective factors enable students to establish positive academic expectations for the future, engage more with school, and develop an internal locus of control (Lessard et al., 2014 ; Longás et al., 2019 ), which helps them better adapt to the school environment.

Interwoven between the processes of academic risk and resilience, the development of students’ learner identity plays a vital role. According to Lawson ( 2014 ), learner identity is defined as “…how an individual feels about himself/herself as a learner and the extent to which he/she describes himself/herself as a ‘learner’” (p. 344). These identity constructs are known to mediate achievement, particularly in students with low socioeconomic status (Li et al., 2020 ; Hansen & Henderson, 2019 ).

From a cultural psychology theoretical background, our approach to identity involves the study of self or self-construal, which refers to an individual’s sense of self in relation to others (self-description or self-view) (Sedikides & Brewer, 2001 ). From our perspective, cognition is situated in activity settings (Werstch, 1991 ). Thus, we understand the self as a dynamic, distributed, and dialogical entity, and not as stable and homogeneous. For instance, Bruner ( 1996 ) proposed the existence of a distributed self, which he described as a “swarm” of participations that arise from the situations in which an individual participates. While constructing their identity as an individual distinct from others in each sociocultural setting, the person maintains a close relationship with them.

In this sense, the literature shows that students internalize the positive or negative academic discourses from their interpersonal relationships with teachers, peers, and family members, impacting their identity as learners (Matías-García, 2022 ; Matias-Garcia et al., 2024 ; McFarland et al., 2016 ). In the educational contexts, the influence of academic activities and discourses has a particularly high effect on its development. Characteristics such as the ability to learn or to be attentive during classes are constantly evaluated throughout formal schooling, explicitly and individually. These tasks and discourses shape students’ identity construction towards teachers’ demands, in a positive or negative way.

Also, there is extensive evidence from cross-cultural research about the relationship between formal schooling and changes in cognitive processes (Cole, 1996 ; Rogoff, 1990 ; Scribner & Cole, 1981 ), such as the development of abstract, decontextualized verbal thinking. Due to the type of discourse employed in formal instructional contexts, the literature relates formal schooling to the development of more individual, autonomous, reflective, and agentive selves (De la Mata et al., 2015 ; 2019 ). Authors such as Kagitcibasi ( 2007 ), Greenfield ( 2009 ), and Keller ( 2007 ) claim that formal schooling is an important factor that fosters a cultural model of the self that is characterized by autonomy and agency.

Through educational institutions and interactions with others, between risk and protective factors, students develop a unique understanding of themselves, others, and their environment. This understanding allows them to make the identitarian decision to continue with their studies. Thus, the aim of the present work is to describe and analyze the development of the learner identity of students who present a trajectory of resilience in contexts at risk of social exclusion. This will be done so through variables such as the degree of general risk to which they are exposed to, the educational level attained (academic year), or their gender.

In line with Agenda 2030's Sustainable Development Goals current concerns on No Poverty, Education, Inclusion, and Peace and Justice (SDG 1, 4, 11, and 16; United Nations, n.d. ), this study will help us gain the necessary knowledge for the development of psychoeducational interventions that favor educational continuity in students facing social exclusion. Therefore, the present research presents the following exploratory objectives:

To analyze the characteristics of the learner identity of students with resilience trajectories in contexts at risk of social exclusion.

To compare the learner identity of students from two high schools that present different degrees of risk for dropping out.

To study the role of academic experience (in terms of participants’ academic year) in the development of learner identity.

To investigate the impact of gender on the development of learner identity.

Participants

An a priori power analysis to estimate the sample size required for Mann-Whitney U tests, based on data from Santamaría et al. ( 2010 ), was conducted. This study employed the same instrument and similar analytical categories as the one used in the present work and reported moderate to large effect sizes, so a moderate effect size according to Cohen’s ( 1988 ) criteria was established for the estimation ( d  = 0.5). With an alpha of 0.05 (two-tailed) and a statistical power of 0.80, the sample size required for detecting this effect size is approximately N  = 134.

Rates of social exclusion are higher in the southern half of Spain (Bayón-Calvo et al., 2021 ; EAPN, 2023 ), which constituted the focus of this research. The high schools from areas at risk of social exclusion in Seville (Andalusia) were sampled. These areas are labelled as Zones in Need of Social Transformation (ZNST) by local administrators. We used purposeful sampling and selected two high schools from different neighborhoods, which, although both were in ZNST, differed in the degree of risk they presented. According to their principals and teachers, High School A presented a higher proportion of migrant students and ethnic minorities (i.e. gypsy population), a higher rate of conflict, and greater deterioration of the school facilities and the neighborhood. Likewise, all the students in the High School A come from the same neighborhood in which the school is located, which according to City Hall of Seville ( 2017 ) has the highest rate of absenteeism in the city. According to the literature, these variables are associated to increased risk for dropping out (Cordero et al., 2014 ; Mena et al., 2010 ; Romero & Hernández, 2019 ). However, the students from High School B come both from the high school’s neighborhood and from other surrounding neighborhoods of lower risk, providing a different profile of school. More differences between both high schools can be seen in the “ Results ” section, where sociodemographic data is presented.

All students from post-compulsory secondary education ( Bachillerato , ISCED Level 3) from the aforementioned high schools were studied. In Spain, this academic course is comprised of 2 years and traditionally prepares the students for accessing university studies. Following Masten ( 2007 )’s definition, we considered these students presented a resilience trajectory. They completed compulsory education and continue in the education system beyond that level, showing proper academic performance in the face of risk (Lessard et al., 2014 ; Longás et al., 2019 ). Students from vocational training ( Grado Medio , ISCED Level 3) could also fall within this definition but were not the focus of the present research. The final sample was comprised of 132 Bachillerato students (statistical power = 0.795).

The variables considered for the study were high school, academic year, and gender (Table  1 ). The mean age of the participants was 17.43. Concerning the students’ educational gap, 21.4% of them were older than the age expected for their grade level, with a gap from 1 to 7 years. In the most extreme cases, these students had dropped out of school and returned several years later.

Many of the students came from single-parent (21.9%), extended (15.1%), or reunited (3.8%) families. In general, they belonged to large families, with an average of 3.82 persons in the household. A mean of 1.37 people in the family had an income, which essentially came from low-skilled or temporary jobs. 44.7% were low-skilled or unskilled, unstable jobs; 25.2% were in medium-skilled jobs or which involved merit selection or passing an exam, while only 3.5% were in high-skilled jobs. Also, 24.8% were unemployed or housewives and 1.7% were retired or pensioned. Finally, parents’ formal education was predominantly low, with 11.8% of the parents having no formal education, 41.4% having basic education (primary or secondary school), 33.8% having intermediate education (post-compulsory secondary school or vocational training), and 12.9% having higher education (technical college or university).

Instruments

A sociodemographic questionnaire and, as a self-report measure of learner identity, a modified version of the Twenty Statement Test (TST) (Kuhn & McPartland, 1954 ; Santamaría et al., 2010 ; Santamaría & Cubero, 2019 , among others) was applied. The original version consisted of 20 sentences beginning with “I am.” The participants were asked to complete them with adjectives, nouns, or short phrases describing what they thought of themselves, or what others thought of them, whether positive or negative. The TST does not provide a priori information like other questionnaires or Likert-type scales, and therefore has the advantage of a more qualitative and flexible approach to the dimensions of meaning individuals construct about themselves. Based on previous research from the literature, some modifications to the instrument were made in order to adapt it to the goals and the context of assessment:

Reducing the 20 items to 10. Previous studies have shown participants have difficulty in completing all 20 sentences (Santamaría et al., 2010 ).

To specifically ask their characteristics as a student to study their learner identity.

Changing the “I am” (“Yo soy”) item structure for only “I” (“Yo”). The English “I am” may be translated by two different verbs in Spanish, either “ ser ” or “ estar ,” which offers a richer range of possible answers than its direct translation in Spanish, “Yo soy.” This change enabled a similar range of answers for the Spanish population.

The instructions specified that answers could also include membership to groups or personal relationships with others. The reason was to avoid the individualistic bias shown by previous studies (Santamaría et al., 2010 ), since these elements tend to be underrepresented.

G*power ver. 3.1 and SPSS ver. 25 were used for calculating the a priori estimation of the sample and analyzing the data, respectively.

Approval was obtained from the local ethics committee (Granting Body: Portal de Ética de la Investigación Biomédica de Andalucía; Protocol Number: 0191-N-18). For the selection of participants, we obtained research approval and the support of the local education administration. Then, the high schools were contacted. Informed consent was obtained from parents and students over 18 years old. The dates for the data gathering sessions were agreed with the teachers from each high school.

A pilot study was carried out in the same high schools and classrooms to ensure that the instructions were understood and that there were no problems with the TST and sociodemographic questionnaire. Some modifications were done to the latter to facilitate its completion and avoid missing data. The definitive data were collected by researchers from the research group over 2 years, applying the TST to all post-compulsory students at both high schools. The instruments were completed in writing and during class time, after a brief explanation of the research and the procedure to be followed. The students took approximately 15 to 20 min to complete them. The students did not receive financial compensation for their participation.

Data analysis

A category system was applied to analyze the self-descriptions that students provided in the TST. Each statement was categorized under four different dimensions. These were organization of the self, emotional valence, plane of action, and thematic reference (Table 2 ). For the reliability analysis of each dimension, 20% of participants were randomly selected from the total sample and their self-descriptions as students were independently coded by two researchers, authors of the present work. Subsequently, the kappa index was calculated as a measure of inter-rater reliability (Cohen, 1960 ).

The first three dimensions were conformed a priori and have already been used in the literature. The organization of the self dimension is based on the distinction of Triandis ( 1989 ) between the private, public, and collective self (Santamaría et al., 2010 ; Yuste et al., 2021 ). A second dimension focuses on the emotional valence of the participants’ description of the self, distinguishing between positive, negative, and ambivalent (Santamaría & Cubero, 2019 ). The third dimension analyzes the plane of actions of self-descriptions. It moves in relation to the trichotomy descriptions, actions, and evaluations (Yuste et al., 2021 ). These dimensions showed good reliability (Table 2 ) according to Cohen ( 1960 ).

Finally, an inductive thematic analysis of the self-descriptions was developed, based on the participants’ answers (Clarke et al., 2015 ). Seventy-six different categories were iteratively elaborated a posteriori, which were very similar to the descriptions that the participants themselves filled out in the TST. Subsequently, they were recategorized into hierarchically higher categories, until five final general categories were created: academic world, social relations, ways of being, work, and finally, leisure and other activities (Matías-García et al., 2023 ). Given the interest in academics, data are also presented for the five subcategories that form Academic World at its previous level (Table 3 ). For reasons of space, microlevel categories will be presented only if they show statistical differences. The kappa index was calculated from the micro level, from 76 different categories, giving a value of 0.866, considered a very good value (Cohen, 1960 ).

Chi-squared ( X 2 ), Fishers’ exact, and Mann-Whitney  U tests were used depending on data type. Percentage of appearance of TST categories was used for analysis. Cramer’s V and Rosenthal’s r were calculated as effect size measures and interpreted according to Cohen ( 1988 ).

First, the descriptive data obtained from the TST will be shown. Subsequently, data referring to the comparison between the different explanatory variables, school, academic year, and gender will be presented.

Descriptive data

The participants’ self-descriptions were mainly personal, positive, evaluative, and referred to the academic world (Table 4 ). The organization of the self shows a small percentage of relational categories and minimal group categories, while in the emotional valence, negative valence is found in one-third of the responses and ambivalent in one-tenth. In the plane of action, very few actions and even fewer descriptions were categorized. Finally, in the thematic reference dimension, in addition to the high percentage referring to the academic world, we found some categories related to social relations and ways of being, and very few referring to work or leisure.

Within the academic world, the highest percentage of self-descriptions are those referring to the abilities and activities of the students. The next most numerous category would be academic emotions. Finally, with less than 5%, we find the categories global conception, academic relationships, and academic goals.

Differences in terms of the explanatory variables high school, academic year, and gender

High school.

First, further differences will be presented between the two high schools to help contextualize and interpret data, based on the analysis of the sociodemographic questionnaire. Subsequently, the differences referred to the TST will be shown.

High School A had a lower number of students who reached the second year of post-compulsory education (34.1%) than High School B (52.3%), X 2 (1, N  = 132) = 3.9, p  = .048, V  = 0.17). Likewise, High School A’s students are significantly older ( M  = 18.3, DT  = 1.71), U  = 985, p  < .001, r  = .41. In terms of family configuration, High School A also showed a higher percentage of extended family (27.3%) than High School B (9.1%), X 2 (1, N  = 132) = 7.54, p  = .006, V  = 0.24). Father’s ( M  = 1.93, SD  = 0.73) and mother’s ( M  = 1.97, SD  = 0.67) educational levels were also lower relative to High School B ( M  = 2.82, SD  = 0.95 and M  = 2.61, SD  = 0.71, respectively), U  = 500, p  < .001, r  = .43 y U  = 740, p  < .001, r  = .38, respectively. The parents’ job analysis also revealed significant socioeconomic differences. Students at High School A came from families whose parents had mostly low-level jobs (81.5%). Few had medium-level jobs (11.1%) and there were no parents with high-level jobs. Finally, 7.4% were unemployed. On the other hand, at High School B, their families had mostly medium level jobs (53.6%). A lower percentage had low-level jobs (32.1%), and few had high level jobs (1.8%). Finally, 1.8% were retired and/or pensioned and 10.7% were unemployed. These differences were significant ( p  < .001, Fisher’s exact test, V  = 0.47). All these data confirmed that High School A presents a higher degree of risk for dropout than High School B.

Data referring to the analysis of self-descriptions as a function of the high schools will be next presented (Table 5 ). High School A has a significantly higher percentage of unspecific relational and positive self-descriptions. There also were more self-descriptions related to academic relationships and more social (non-academic) relationships.

On the other hand, High School B presents a higher percentage of personal self-descriptions and of ambivalent emotional valence, and referred more to the academic world. Within the academic world, we also find more self-descriptions related to abilities and activities and to academic emotions in High School B. No significant differences were found in the plane of action.

In addition, there were significant differences related to the micro-level categories that make up the thematic reference analysis (Table 6 ). For reasons of space, only statistically significant categories are included.

Thus, we find that students from High School A use more self-descriptions categorized as referring to supportive and helpful relationships with classmates, high non-academic relational abilities, and high attendance and punctuality. However, they also present more self-descriptions of overall poor student conception and other people’s (perceived as) negative academic motivations, in which participants feel pressured or obligated to perform their studies. On the other hand, students from High School B use more self-descriptions that allude to their capacity for effort and organization as a student, either low or high, and to high intelligence. However, they present more descriptions referring to low study and learning and to negative academic emotions, such as anxiety or felling overwhelmed.

All significant differences related to their high school have a small-moderate effect size.

Academic year

Relating to organization of the self, second-year students presented a significantly higher percentage of personal self-descriptions ( M  = 86.2, SD  = 12.3) than first-year students ( M  = 75.6, SD  = 20.4), U  = 1548, p  = .004, with a small effect size ( r  = .25). No significant differences were found for emotional valence. In the plane of action, there were less descriptive self-descriptions in second-year students ( M  = 0, SD  = 0) than in first-year students ( M  = 1.65, SD  = 6.81), U  = 1983, p  = .021, with a small effect size ( r  = .2). In the thematic reference, second-year participants presented a higher percentage of academic world categories ( M  = 88.6, SD  = 14.2) than the first-year students ( M  = 75, SD  = 25.7), U  = 1477, p  = .001, with a small effect size ( r  = .28).

Likewise, within the academic world, second-year students used more self-descriptions referring to abilities and activities ( M  = 64.4, SD  = 19.2) than first-year students ( M  = 52.2, SD  = 23.2), U  = 1526, p  = .003, with a small effect size ( r  = .25). On the other hand, second-year students presented less self-descriptions related to social relations ( M  = 3.55, SD  = 6.66) than the first-year students ( M  = 13.9, SD  = 17.1), U  = 1402, p  < .001, with a small effect size ( r  = .34).

In addition, there also were significant differences related to micro-level categories (Table 7 ). The second-year students presented more self-descriptions related to their capacity for effort and organization, whether low or high, high participation in class, and positive academic emotions, such as satisfaction with their studies.

However, they presented a higher proportion of categories related to low attention in class. As for the first-year students, they presented a greater number of categories related to their behavior in class, either behaving calmly or nervously in class, non-academic relational skills, and high creativity. All these significant differences have small to moderate effect sizes.

No significant gender differences were found in organization of the self, emotional valence, or plane of action. In thematic reference, female students presented more academic world categories ( M  = 84.9, SD  = 21.6) than males ( M  = 78.4, SD  = 22.4), U  = 1612, p  = .011, with a small effect size ( r  = .22). However, males presented more ways of being categories ( M  = 9.7, SD  = 14.5) than females ( M  = 6.03, SD  = 12.2), U  = 1740, p  = .032, with a small effect size ( r  = .19).

In the micro-level analysis, there also were statistical differences (Table 8 ). Female students presented a greater number of self-descriptions referring to a high capacity for effort and organization. However, they presented more self-descriptions referring to a low ability to pass or get a good grade, as well as more self-descriptions referring to both academic optimism and pessimism. On the other hand, male students had more self-descriptions referring to support and help among classmates, calm classroom behavior, and high creativity. All these differences showed small effect sizes.

The present study analyzed the learner identity of students presenting a trajectory of educational resilience in contexts at risk of social exclusion (Lessard et al., 2014 , Longás, 2019 ; Toland & Carrigan, 2011 ). For this purpose, the participants’ self-descriptions as students were studied through the TST. Understanding how these students elaborate their learner identity allows us to better understand educational resilience in these contexts.

Students who drop out generally allude to a lack of ability, motivation, and social value of school (Romero & Hernández, 2019 ). Leaving the education system is viewed as a success rather than a failure by these students, as they believe they can stop wasting time and engage in more productive activities (Mena et al., 2010 ). However, when asked about their learner identity, the study’s participants employed mainly personal, positive, evaluative self-descriptions, linked to the academic world. These descriptions are associated with higher academic performance and mastery-focused academic goals (Hansen & Henderson, 2019 ; Li et al., 2020 ).

In addition, the most common micro-level category was effort in academic tasks, whether high or low (see Tables  6  or 7 ). For the participants, making an effort is one of their primary characteristics as learners. In this sense, incremental beliefs of one’s own abilities, that is, beliefs that one’s ability and intelligence can be improved and developed through effort, have been related to greater motivation, academic performance, task mastery goals, persistence in the face of failure, and greater academic resilience, especially in students at risk of social exclusion (Burnette et al., 2013 ; Matías-García & Cubero-Pérez, 2021 ; Sarrasin et al., 2018 ). Likewise, interventions on these beliefs have been shown to be especially beneficial to at-risk students (Sarrasin et al., 2018 ). Explaining successes and failures in terms of effort has the advantage of making academic difficulties controllable, which gives them agency over their own life trajectory (Burnette et al., 2013 ; Skinner & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2011 ). This alternative to deficit discourses in at-risk students who show a trajectory of resilience is consistent with previous research in the literature (Cubero-Pérez et al., 2023 ; Matias-Garcia et al., 2024 ).

Thus, identity serves as an attributional resource that explains the students’ successes and failures. Despite being in ZNST, these students identify themselves as students who make an effort and are capable and participative in academic settings. This is identitarily coherent with pursuing further studies, allowing them to make such a decision. The importance of building positive learner identities has also been highlighted by other authors (Rosales & Cubero, 2016 ) and their development depends on both the context and the students’ interactions with significant others, such as families, teachers, and classmates (Matías-García, 2022 ; Matias-Garcia et al., 2024 ; McFarland et al., 2016 ). The next section will discuss the impact of risk, academic experience, and gender on the development of learner identity.

Although both high schools are located in contexts at risk of social exclusion, they differed in the degree of risk they presented. High School A had older students, resulting in a greater educational gap. Its students only came from ZNST and had families with a significantly lower socioeconomic status. Additionally, High School A had a higher number of migrant students, a higher rate of conflict, and greater facility deterioration.

In High School A, there was a higher frequency of self-descriptions related to supporting and helping classmates as well as attending class. In contrast, High School B had more self-descriptions related to abilities and activities. This suggests that, even though both high schools are in ZNST, the learning relationships and interactions between teachers and students that occur within them are different (McFarland et al., 2016 ). The higher rate of conflict and absenteeism in High School A indicates that one of the main tasks of its teachers is to ensure that students attend class and maintain good student behavior, in terms of them staying quiet during lessons and not provoke fights with others. Thus, those High School A students who do not fail and who remain in the educational system highlight to a greater extent their good behavior and attendance as something important in their role as students. They elaborate their learner identity in relation to others (Sedikides & Brewer, 2001 ), as a way of differentiating themselves from more troubling students. In contrast, in High School B, the students focused more on their own abilities as students (study, intelligence, effort, organization, etc.), characteristics that education usually values highly in the absence of other difficulties.

According to the data provided by the TST, the students from High School A had the most interdependent selves, based on supportive relationships among peers and friends. On the other hand, the High School B students’ selves were more personal and associated with education. They also presented a more ambivalent and less positive emotional valence, showing a certain greater degree of reflection on their own self-descriptions (De la Mata et al., 2015 ).

These differences are coherent with cross-cultural research. The literature on self-construals advocates a broad distinction between independent and interdependent selves (De la Mata et al., 2015 ; 2019 ; Greenfield, 2009 ; Kitayama et al., 2007 ). People with an independent self-construal view the self as unique, private, and autonomous, whereas people with an interdependent self-construal view the self as related to others, incorporating and referencing the views of other people and groups in their identity. Interdependent selves are related to rural societies and low levels of schooling, whereas independent selves are associated with urban societies which has a greater role for school (De la Mata et al., 2015 ; 2019 ; Greenfield, 2009 ; Kitayama et al., 2007 ). In our sample, the parents from High School A had a lower level of formal education than those from High School B families.

The idea that educational experience fosters the development of independent selves is supported by the significant differences observed between first- and second-year students (Matías-García et al. 2023 ). Second-year students, who are more acclimated to the school environment (Mena et al., 2010 ) and have more educational experience than first-year students, also exhibited more personal self-descriptions and greater association with the academic world (effort, organization, participation, emotions) than first-year students. In contrast, first-year students referenced their social relationships and behavior in class more frequently than second-year students. The educational discourse in class interaction influenced the development of students’ identities, leading to increasingly independent selves associated with school characteristics (De la Mata et al., 2015 ; 2019 ). Matías-García et al. ( 2023 ) show how this process takes place in the development of future selves as well.

However, it is important to note that both profiles of learner identities in the sample, independent or interdependent, demonstrate a trajectory of resilience in their respective high schools and are strongly associated with academic selves. Therefore, it is important to emphasize the relevance of interdependent academic identities in the especially disadvantaged schools and neighborhoods, such as High School A. Cultivating such identities, as well as building good relationships among students and with teachers, could be effective ways to achieve good school integration of students at risk of social exclusion (Longás et al., 2019 ).

In fact, the results of High School A show that fostering an autonomous self does not necessarily imply the undermining of relational selves (Santamaría et al., 2010 ). In contrast to the consideration of two major models of the self, the independent and the interdependent self (Markus & Kitayama, 1991 ), there are authors such as Kagitcibasi ( 2007 ) who reject the traditional consideration of autonomy as opposed to relatedness, which has been predominantly assumed in psychology and in Western thought in general. It is precisely in the specific field of education that this idea has been reinforced in recent years, pointing out that formal education should not only promote aspects of rationality, but also relationality.

Regarding gender, research shows that dropout rates are higher in males than in females (Eurostat, 2022 ). In the present study’s data, female students presented more school-associated identities than male students, indicating greater adaptation and integration in the educational system. Qualitative research suggests that working-class male students may face challenges in maintaining their status within their peer group while integrating into school due to male gender roles (Reay, 2018 ). As a result, they may be more reticent than female students to identify with academic selves. Although female students have more academic success (Eurostat, 2022 ) and display positive self-descriptions regarding their school performance (such as high capacity for effort and organization), they also exhibited more categories of academic pessimism and about obtaining poor grades. In this sense, the literature demonstrates that female students experience greater pressure in school, particularly in certain areas (Kim et al., 2018 ).

In turn, male students presented fewer academic categories and more categories of calm behavior in class, while male students traditionally manifest more behavioral problems (Moreno et al., 2012 ). As mentioned, students who exhibit resilience and do not experience such issues, or at least experience them to a lesser extent, tend to identify these characteristics of themselves as relevant to their identity as a student.

Limitations

Regarding limitations, this research understood resilience as the completion of secondary education and its maintenance in the educational system as a goal in itself. However, the students from this research are still at risk of ESL. Economic needs and other factors may still force them out of the educational system (Mena et al., 2010 , Romero & Hernández, 2019 ). Therefore, measuring other academic adaptation indices, such as the number of passed subjects or the completion of post-compulsory studies, could complement the results. In addition to academic achievement, mental health indicators could be further analyzed in this population. Some students might progress with high levels of stress, discomfort, or “suffering great pressure,” which could also be a problem to address.

Also, it would be worthwhile to analyze the relationship between the students’ learner identity and other non-academic characteristics, such as emotional and affective development, or the social relationships they have. These students face a multitude of difficulties, both in the school context and in the family or peer context, which are interrelated (Toland & Carrigan, 2011 ).

Finally, our results have explanatory value only for students from the post-compulsory bachillerato , a course that traditionally prepares them for university studies. Our sample did not include students from different academically resilient trajectories, such as students from vocational training Grado Medio . These students might develop different types of learner identities, which should be further explored in future research.

Conclusions

This study examined the characteristics of the learner identity of students who exhibit a resilient trajectory. These characteristics align with the healthy learner identity construct found in the literature (Rosales & Cubero, 2016 ). Through their participation in class and interaction with teachers and other students, they elaborated their learner identity in a positive way, while being connected to others. They rejected deficit discourses about the self, common in areas at risk of social exclusion, and built an agentic learner identity mostly based on effort.

The identities constructed by the participants are influenced by the degree of risk present in their high school (and neighborhood), gender, and educational experience. These identities may be more independent or interdependent, more focused on behavior and attendance or on capabilities as learners. In one way or another, all of these students remain resiliently in the educational system beyond the compulsory.

The identification of these characteristics adds necessary information for intervening in ZNST, aligned with national, European, and international goals (Agenda 2030's Sustainable Development Goals; United Nations, n.d. ). The school, in conjunction with families, should promote the construction of positive learner identities attending to the emotional needs that students face when navigating the various challenges presented by their school and context. Identifying and reinforcing characteristics such as effort, attendance, behaving calmly during lessons, being supportive to other students, or the overall conception of being a good student can help build identities consistent with remaining in the educational system. This is especially important for ZNST students, as it can reduce feelings of disengagement and promote adaptive behaviors and persistence.

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Funding for open access publishing: Universidad de Sevilla/CBUA This research was carried out within the framework of the research project funded by the Spanish Government, Ministry of Science and Innovation, State Research Agency and European Regional Development Fund-ERDF, entitled “Challenges of the self: Identity reconstruction in situations of inequality and social exclusion” (reference: PSI2016–80112–P). It was also funded by the VI-PPITUS (University of Seville).

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Jose Antonio Matías-García, Mercedes Cubero, Andrés Santamaría & Miguel Jesús Bascón

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José Antonio Matías-García . Department of Experimental Psychology, Universidad de Sevilla, Camilo José Cela Street, 41018 Seville, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]

Current themes of research :

Educational resilience. Learner identity. Conceptions of intelligence. Early school leaving.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education :

Matías-García, J. A., Santamaría, A., Cubero, M., Cubero-Pérez, R. (2023). From current to possible selves: Self-descriptions of resilient post-compulsory secondary education Spanish students at risk of social exclusion. Children and Youth Services Review, 155 , 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107257

Cubero-Pérez, R., Cubero, M., Matías-García, J. A., & Bascón, M. J. (2023). Learner identity in secondary post-compulsory education students from areas in need of social transformation: An example of resilience. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 0 (0), 1-22, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-023-00704-6

Matías-García, J. A. (2022). Identidad de aprendiz y desigualdad social. Resiliencia académica en contextos en riesgo de exclusión social [Learner identity and social inequality. Academic resilience in contexts at risk of social exclusion]. [Unpublished Doctoral Thesis]. Universidad de Sevilla.

Matías-García, J. A., & Cubero-Pérez, R. (2021). La naturaleza heterogénea del concepto de inteligencia en los seres humanos: discurso y contextos de práctica [The heterogeneous nature of the concept of intelligence in humans: Discourse and contexts of practice]. In S. Arias-Sánchez (Coord.), Construyendo identidad(es) en escenarios culturales (pp. 97-122). Editorial Universidad de Sevilla.

Matías-García, J. A., & Cubero-Pérez, R. (2021). Heterogeneity in the conceptions of intelligence of university teaching staff. Culture & Psychology, 27 (3), 451–472. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X20936926

Matias-Garcia, J. A., & Cubero-Perez, R. (2020). “Einstein worked his socks of”. Conceptions of intelligence in university teaching staff. International Journal of Educational Psychology, 9 (2), 161–194. https://doi.org/10.17583/ijep.2020.4553

Mercedes Cubero . Department of Experimental Psychology, Universidad de Sevilla, Camilo José Cela Street, 41018 Seville, Spain.

Concept formation processes. Teaching practices. Learner identity. Gender and education. Educational discourse.

Cubero, M., Bascón, M. J., & Cubero-Pérez, R. (2020). “My tutor doesn’t say that”: The legitimized voices in dialogic refection on teaching practices. Dialogic Pedagogy, 8 , 26–44. https://doi.org/10.5195/dpj.2020.311

Cubero, M., Santamaría, A., Prados, M. M., & Arias, S. (2019). Concepciones del aprendizaje de estudiantes en proceso de formación como docentes. [Conceptions on learning of students in the process of training as teachers]. Profesorado. Revista de Curriculum y Formación del Profesorado, 23 (3), 453–471.

Cubero-Pérez, R., Cubero, M., & Bascón, M. J. (2019). The reflective practicum in the process of becoming a teacher: The tutor’s discursive support. Education Sciences, 9 (96), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9020096

Cubero, M., Contreras, R., & Cubero, R. (2016). Cultural origins and schooling infuence on scientific and everyday concepts: The case of border and citizen on the border concepts. Culture & Psychology, 22 (2), 182–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X15601189

Cubero, M., Santamaría, A., Rebollo, M. A., Cubero, R., García, R., & Vega, L. (2015). Teachers negotiating discourses of gender (in)equality: The case of equal opportunities reform in Andalusia. Gender & Education, 27 (6), 635–653. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2015.1083947

Andrés Santamaría . Department of Experimental Psychology, Universidad de Sevilla, Camilo José Cela Street, 41018 Seville, Spain.

Identity. Narrative. Cultural psychology. Formal schooling. Gender and self.

De la Mata, M.L., Santamaría, A., Trigo, E., Cubero, M., Arias, S., Antaliková, R., Hansen, T.G.B., & Ruiz, M. (2019). The relationship between sociocultural factors and autobiographical memories from childhood: The role of formal schooling. Memory, 27 (1), 103-114. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2018.1515316

De la Mata, M.L., Santamaría, A., y Ruiz, M.L. (2016). Toward the model of independence: The influence of formal schooling experience on earliest autobiographical memories and self-construals: A preliminary study. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 47 (5), 670–679.   https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022116635745

Cubero, M., Santamaría, A., Rebollo, M.A., Cubero, R., García, R., y Vega, L. (2015). Teachers negotiating discourses of gender (in)equality: The case of equal opportunities reform in Andalusia. Gender & Education, 27 (6), 635-653. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2015.1083947

De la Mata, M.L., Santamaría, A., Hansen, T.G., & Ruiz, L. (2015). Earliest autobiographical memories in college students from three countries: Towards a situated view. Memory Studies, 8 , 151-168. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698014543966

Santamaría, A., de la Mata, M. L. y Ruiz, M. L. (2012). Escolarización formal, memoria autobiográfica y concepciones culturales del yo [Formal schooling, autobiographical memory and cultural conceptions of the self]. Infancia y Aprendizaje, 35 , 1, 73-86.

Miguel Jesús Bascón . Department of Experimental Psychology, Universidad de Sevilla, Camilo José Cela Street, 41018 Seville, Spain.

Current themes of research : Gender and education. Learner identity. Teaching-learning processes. Educational discourse.

Saavedra. F. J., Bascón, M. J., Prados. M. M., & Sabuco, A. (2013). Indicadores y criterios de calidad de buenas prácticas coeducativas. Una propuesta innovadora. [Indicators and quality criteria of good coeducational practices. An innovative proposal]. Profesorado. Revista de curriculum y formación del profesorado, 17 (1), 201–220.

Rebollo, M. A., Piedra, J., Sala, A., Sabuco, A., Saavedra, F. J., & Bascón, M. J. (2012). La equidad de género en educación: Análisis y descripción de buenas prácticas en educación. [Gender equity in education: Analysis and description of good practices in education]. Revista de Educación, 358 , 129–152.

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Matías-García, J., Cubero, M., Santamaría, A. et al. The learner identity of adolescents with trajectories of resilience: the role of risk, academic experience, and gender. Eur J Psychol Educ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-024-00839-0

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Is AI Biased against Some Groups and Spreading Misinformation and Extreme Views?

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 Is AI Biased against Some Groups and Spreading Misinformation and Extreme Views?

Bu computer scientists will use support from first-of-its-kind federal ai pilot program to scrutinize artificial intelligence for “socially undesirable behavior”, andrew thurston.

Millions of us have played with artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, testing their ability to write essays, create art, make films, and improve internet searches. Some have even explored if they can provide friendship and companionship— perhaps a dash of romance .

But can we, should we, trust AI? Is it safe, or is it perpetuating biases and spreading hate and misinformation?

Those are questions that Boston University computer scientist Mark Crovella will investigate with a new project backed by a first-of-its-kind National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Energy program. The National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot aims to bring a new level of scrutiny to AI’s peril and promise by giving 35 projects , including Crovella’s, access to advanced supercomputing resources and data.

A BU College of Arts & Sciences professor of computer science and a Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences professor and chair of academic affairs, Crovella will use the high-powered assist to examine a type of AI known as large language models, or LLMs. His goal is to audit LLMs—AI programs trained to study and summarize data, produce text and speech, and make predictions—for “socially undesirable behavior.” LLMs help drive everything from ChatGPT to automated chatbots to your smart speaker assistant. Crovella will be joined on the project by Evimaria Terzi , a CAS professor of computer science.

According to the NSF, the research resource pilot grew out of President Joe Biden’s October 2023 executive order calling for a federally coordinated approach to “governing the development and use of AI safely and responsibly.”

The Brink asked Crovella about the rapid expansion of AI, how it’s already part of our everyday lives, and how the NAIRR award will help his team figure out if it’s trustworthy and safe.

with Mark Crovella

The brink: in your description of your project , you note the “imminent wide deployment of llms.” what are some of the ways they may impact our lives—or perhaps already are.

Crovella: Large language models are software tools like ChatGPT that are very rapidly becoming widely used. LLMs are quickly finding uses in education—both students and teachers use LLMs to accelerate their work; in social settings—many companies now are selling LLMs as online companions or assistants; and in science—researchers use LLMs to find and summarize important developments from the flood of research results published every day. Apple, Microsoft, and Meta have all announced integrations of LLMs into their product lines. In fact, ChatGPT had the fastest uptake of any new software , reaching 100 million users in just two months—much faster than did TikTok or Facebook.

The Brink: What’s the goal of your project?

Crovella: Given that millions of people will soon be interacting with LLMs on a daily basis, we think it’s important to ask questions about what social values these models incorporate. We’d like to know whether such models incorporate biases against protected groups, tendencies to propagate extreme or hateful views, or conversational patterns that steer users toward unreliable information.

Given that millions of people will soon be interacting with LLMs on a daily basis, we think it’s important to ask questions about what social values these models incorporate. Mark Crovella

The question is how to assess these tendencies in a system as complex as ChatGPT. In previous research, we’ve studied simpler systems from the outside. That is, we gave those systems inputs and observed whether their outputs were biased. However, when we look at LLMs, this strategy starts to break down. For example, we’ve found cases where an LLM will correctly refuse to answer a question on a sensitive topic when the question is posed in English, but simply by asking the same question in a different language (Portuguese), the model provides an answer that it shouldn’t.  So, looking at an LLM just from the outside is not reliable. The genesis of this new project is to ask whether we can look inside an LLM, observe the representations of concepts that it is using, observe the logic that it is following, and, from that, detect whether the system is likely to incorporate undesirable social behaviors. In essence, we want to study an LLM the way a neuroscientist studies a brain in an fMRI machine.

The Brink: US Senator Ed Markey (Hon.’04) (D-Mass.) lauded the NAIRR program for accelerating AI research, saying that, in “an era where AI development is dominated by Big Tech, their public purpose–driven projects are crucial.” Do you agree and why is it important to have public purpose–driven projects in this field?

I take Senator Markey’s views as emphasizing the need for independent research on AI systems. These fantastically capable systems wouldn’t exist without Big Tech—there’s just no way to marshal the resources needed elsewhere. At the same time, we need a lot of eyes on the problem of whether these new systems are serving us well. I want to point out that our work depends on the fact that some large tech companies have actually “open-sourced” their models—given their code and data away for free. This has been a socially beneficial act on their part and it has been crucial for the kind of work we are doing.

The Brink: What does this award allow you to do that you might not have been able to do before?

An LLM is large in two ways: it contains a huge amount of knowledge, obtained from vast training data, and it has an enormously complex system for generating output that makes use of billions of parameters. As a result, the internal representations used in LLMs have been referred to as giant and inscrutable. Just processing the huge amount of information inside a modern LLM is an enormous computational task. Our NAIRR grant gives us access to supercomputing facilities at top national laboratories that will enable us to efficiently analyze the internals of modern LLMs.

The Brink: How might your work benefit society and the public?

There are currently over half a million different LLMs available for the public to use. No doubt in the near future, we will each have our own personalized LLM that will know a lot about us and will help us with many tasks on a minute-to-minute basis. How will we know that these “giant and inscrutable” systems are trustworthy and safe? Our research is intended to provide methods for answering those questions.

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On her latest album, Susan Werner draws a musical map of Texas

The singer-songwriter from Iowa discovers the Lone Star State with “Halfway to Houston.”

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Courtesy of Susan Werner

Singer-songwriter Susan Werner's latest album, "Halfway to Houston" is a travelogue of the Iowan's time in the Lone Star State.

Texas is not Susan Werner’s home, but she spends enough time in the Lone Star State to have developed strong feelings about the place.

Werner is a singer-songwriter, and on her latest album, “ Halfway to Houston ,” the Iowa native takes on the wide landscapes of Texas – from the Marfa Lights to a rooftop bar in Corpus Christi. She also stops along the way to namecheck HEB and share a few thoughts on Texas politics.

Werner joined the Standard to talk about her new album. Listen to the interview above or read the extended transcript below.  

This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:

Texas Standard: I think the first question that folks might have about this album is you know, why write an entire album about Texas, when you’re not from Texas? 

Susan Werner: Yeah. Like, there’s not a shortage of Texas music, to be sure. But in my own work, I found that travelogues are really appealing at this point.

As a career singer-songwriter with a national following, at some point you realize “I think I might have plumbed the depths of the self” – whatever that profound thing is supposed to be, the poet of the soul. And one way to keep things interesting is to pick yourself up and land yourself somewhere else. 

And I’ve done travelogues in the last couple of years. One called “An American in Havana,” one in New Orleans, one called “Birds of Florida,” about Florida.   And, then this one came about, and it’s mostly because family winds up there. And   then you care in a new way. 

Do you have family here? 

I do, I have family in the Woodlands and down in Corpus.

And there’s an old saying – “people don’t care what you know until they know you care.” And suddenly you find yourself caring. And then you find yourself there and looking at it through the eyes of people you love, and especially children. And you want this place to be wonderful for them. And you see what is wonderful about it already, to them.

It makes the place matter. And affection is a good place to begin with, with any project. 

» GET MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE:  Sign up for Texas Standard’s weekly newsletters

I like that. You mentioned some of your other projects – place-based records. How is writing about Texas different than Florida, New Orleans, Havana? 

Well, the musical palette is different, right? I mean, the materials you work with.

When I did the Havana project, then I was down in Havana three times and you bring in the people who play trumpet, you bring in people who play congas, you bring in people who know how to actually play maracas, right? And you have to have people who are your guides along the way to make sure that you’re speaking true and playing the instruments right and hiring people who know how to do it.

So the great thing about Texas is that there is this template to work with. So there’s a musical template, but there’s also… I got to tell you, the generosity of Texas songwriters has just been just great. I think this is exceptional. I got to tell you. I think Texans feel like, “hey, writing a song – well, of course. That’s something you do like speaking.”

It’s not surprising to Texans that you might be a songwriter. It’s the most wonderful thing. And they’re like, “well, sure.” And I’m like, “I’m working on a song. Hey, Sara Hickman, you want to do this?” “Absolutely.” “Tish Hinojosa, I’m working on this thing. Do you think you might help?” “Absolutely.” The generosity of Southpaw Jones and Billy Crockett out in Wimberley and just how people are like, “absolutely, yes. Let’s do this and let’s make something great.”

I’d like to hear a little bit more about the song you wrote with Sara Hickman. It’s called “Tiny Texans.” Is this the first time you’ve written a song for kids about kids? 

I wrote a song about my home state of Iowa that was really a children’s song, but isn’t.  And this song is that same thing.

And this is really because I have so many toddlers in my family in Texas. And I love them so much. And, to think about their lives in Texas, already their parents are like “we love it here.” Hmm. “We love it here.” Hmm. OK, what is that made of?

And this song, because Sara Hickman has kids and I now have little ones in my family down there, t he idea of juxtaposing what it is that’s wonderful about Texas with what it is that’s not. You know that’s an old Kurt Weill/Bert Brecht kind of deal really. It’s like musical theater and you put these things next to each other that are unlike. That’s where the surprises comes. And this tune lands live! Like, oh my God!

It’s a place that that contains multitudes, I don’t think you’ll have any argument. 

That’s well put. 

As I listen to this record, I sort of felt like you had really made a study of us, that this is sort of an anthropology thesis wrapped up in a record. I mean, is that fair at all?

Yeah, I think there’s something to that. And I found myself going places I had never gone before because you can’t really just know Houston and Dallas and Fort Worth and call it a day. So I found myself headed out to Bandera and El Paso, Big Bend, Alpine.

And the love for West Texas is really deep, and for a reason. It’s amazing out there. There were about three or four songs from this record that came from Highway 90 coming down from El Paso, past Valentine and down to Marathon and through Big Bend and Terlingua and it’s wonderful.

And I saw the Marfa Lights. I don’t want to really hear anybody say that they’re not real. I saw the whole deal, and that was awesome to go to the viewing platform just east of town. And there were people from all over the United States and even Germany. There was a couple from Denmark. They’re like, “we think we’re going to see something.” And, sure enough, there was no doubt something was going on out there, and I’m glad I saw it. 

» WANT MORE SONGS ABOUT TEXAS PLACES?: Take your own road trip around the state through song with our interactive Google map

Can you describe what you saw? 

Yeah. There’s lights moving. There’s lights moving in the distance in unpredictable directions. Like, they shouldn’t be doing that. And I get it. Once you see it, you get it. And because some people think this is hippie nonsense, I’m telling you, there’s something there. And I was the most skeptical person. 

I’m like, “this is hippie woo-woo.” And no, it’s for real. And I just enjoyed it so much and I recommend it to anybody in your audience. You got to go and see what the thing is. Even just to be in the viewing platform, waiting for something magical to happen with people from all over the world. 

Yeah, that in and of itself is quite an experience. 

This album is rich with images and imagery, and as someone who’s traveled around the state, visits it often, is there a spot, a view, a place in particular that you find yourself revisiting? Either literally or in your mind?  

Yeah. I love the Galveston Beach. And Corpus was a real discovery, too. I mean, the water! I think that people outside Texas don’t really get that Texas has an enormous coast.   And, that song about Corpus – from the bar at the top of the Omni, that was just great. That was just great. And the view out across Port Aransas and Mustang Island.

  I mean, we hear a lot about you on the news, and not all of it is lovely. But you could make more of that coast deal, I think. Well, I already know, you know, people are moving there, but I’m just saying that coast thing is really a surprise.  Big Bend was a surprise.  You could work on your public relations, I think a little bit. You got a lot to work with. 

There’s no doubt it’s a big place with lots of wonderful things in it. You also wrote about the not-so-wonderful things, in your view. Why include some politics amid the beauty here? And was it difficult to do that? 

Look, I think there’s a moment when you’re an adult, you’re like, “OK.” You know you love people, you love members of your family. You love them, warts and all. You love them. Even if there’s parts of their personality that you’re like, “that really is challenging for me.” But I love them. And making room for that as an adult, I think, is what being an adult with affection [is] all about – is really caring for a place and caring for the world as it really is. I wanted to make room for that. 

And these songs, let me say one thing – I want to make sure and say this part of why this album happened as it did. So as I was beginning this record, I sat down with friends in Texas and I said, “draw me a map of Texas with a pen and a piece of paper.” And they drew me a map, right? And I have like ten different maps in my office here, and they all look a little different.

I asked people: “where do you think I really should go? What do you love about Texas?” And these hand-drawn maps were so interesting that they sent me to places that I didn’t expect to go.

Galveston was big with people. Port Aransas was big with people. Alpine. Big Bend. El Paso was big with people, and it invited me to make sure and go to those places and see what it was. I’d never spent any time in San Antonio.

That was the guide. The Texan’s affection for Texas itself was the guide, was really the map for this set of travels – about four different trips through Texas. And it was so helpful to have love from within kind of point the way to “here’s some places you might want to see” and see what happens there. 

If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it  here . Your gift helps pay for everything you find on  texasstandard.org  and  KUT.org . Thanks for donating today.

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Drake Bell says he and former Nickelodeon exec Dan Schneider have spoken

This story discusses child sexual abuse. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call  800-656-4673  to reach the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. You can also visit the Child Help Hotline for additional support.

Drake Bell is opening up about his relationship with the former Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider, who’s a central figure in the Investigation Discovery docuseries “Quiet on Set.”

In a new interview with NBC News’ Kate Snow , Bell was asked about Schneider’s defamation lawsuit filed against the people and companies behind “Quiet on Set,” alleging they wrongly implied he sexually abused child actors.

“I get asked a lot about other things in the documentary,” he responded. “I get asked about other stories that are coming out. And it’s really hard for me because I don’t want to take away from anybody’s stories.” He also said that he and Schneider have spoken.

More from Drake Bell’s TODAY interview

• EXCLUSIVE: Drake Bell reflects on the aftermath of revealing his ‘gruesome’ past in ‘Quiet on Set’
• Drake Bell’s son inspired him to open up about abuse: ‘What’s the story he’s going to get?’
• Drake Bell says he worried for his life while being sexually abused as a teenager
• Drake Bell addresses critics who claim cycle of abuse: ‘Difficult parallel to make’

“Quiet on Set’s” five episodes detail the allegedly toxic atmosphere at Nickelodeon, a children’s entertainment network, in the 1990s and early aughts. Schneider, creating and presiding over some of the network’s biggest shows like “All That” and “The Amanda Show,” guided its ascent. 

Bell, who starred in both “The Amanda Show” and the sitcom “Drake & Josh,” is among the former Nickelodeon talent who opened up in the docuseries. Bell’s interviews in “Quiet on Set” are focused not on Schneider, however, but on his experiences as a victim of sexual abuse. 

Bell came forward in “Quiet on Set” as the plaintiff in the 2003 case against Brian Peck, an acting and dialogue coach. Court records show Peck pleaded no contest to lewd acts upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older and oral copulation of a person under 16. He served over a year in prison and was made to register as a sex offender. Peck’s attorney in the 2003 case has not returned NBC News’ requests for comment.

In the documentary, Bell said Schneider, the showrunner of “Drake & Josh” at the time, was the “only person” there for him among Nickelodeon executives following Peck’s arrest. He added he’s “not certain how many people knew.” Many prominent names in Hollywood submitted letters to the court in support of Peck at the time, but Schneider was not among them, according to “Quiet on Set.”

After Bell revealed his identity, which had been anonymous until that point, Nickelodeon said in a statement to NBC News, “Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward.”

Other former cast members and staff writers detail specific incidents with Schneider in “Quiet on Set,” including allegations of hostile work environments. The documentary also resurfaces jokes with sexual innuendos that made it into Nickelodeon’s children’s programming. “Zoey 101” actor Alexa Nikolas said in the documentary that she felt uncomfortable being put in sexually suggestive scenarios.

“Every scene was approved by the network and these shows are all still being aired today,” a spokesperson for Schneider told NBC News after “Quiet on Set’s’” release. “If there was an actual problem, they would be taken down, but they air constantly all over the world, enjoyed by kids and parents.”

Schneider, who does not appear in the documentary, acknowledged in a March 19 video on his YouTube channel that the jokes could be seen as inappropriate for children.

“Those jokes (were) written for a kid audience because kids thought they were funny and only funny, OK?” he said. “Now we have some adults looking back at them 20 years later through their lens, and they’re looking at them and they’re saying, ‘Oh, you know, I don’t think that’s appropriate for a kid show,’ and I have no problem with that. If that’s how anyone feels, let’s cut those jokes out of the show — just like I would have done 20 years ago.”

In his interview with Snow, Bell said, “It’s a difficult situation. I don’t know if it was what I was going through at the time — maybe, a lot of times, I was not seeing other things around me. But the set, for me, when I wasn’t experiencing things with (Peck), was my escape. And I felt at home.”

Bell echoed that sentiment in “Quiet on Set.” When Peck was arrested in 2003, Bell was shooting “Drake & Josh.” He said in the documentary, “Thank God I loved what I was doing. When I was on set, doing a scene with (co-star) Josh (Peck), I was able to lose myself and just have fun.”

Schneider addressed his behavior in his March 19 video. 

“I wish I could go back ... and just do a better job and never ever feel like it was OK to be an a--hole to anyone, ever,” he said. “I’d just be nicer as often as possible and listen more to the people on my team, and I would do everything that I could to make sure that everyone had a good experience.”

After filing a lawsuit May 1 against “Quiet on Set” directors Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, Warner Brothers Discovery, Maxine Productions and Sony Pictures Television, Schneider admitted to being a “bad leader” at times.

“I am sincerely apologetic and regretful for that behavior, and I will continue to take accountability for it,” he said in an email to NBC News.

The rationale behind the lawsuit is, per the filing, not Schneider’s workplace behavior, but that the defendants “falsely state or imply that Schneider ... sexually abused the children who worked on his television shows.” 

The “Quiet on Set” creators did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

Elena Nicolaou is a senior entertainment editor at Today.com, where she covers the latest in TV, pop culture, movies and all things streaming. Previously, she covered culture at Refinery29 and Oprah Daily. Her superpower is matching people up with the perfect book, which she does on her podcast, Blind Date With a Book.

Wiley's 'fake science' scandal is just the latest chapter in a broader crisis of trust universities must address

Analysis Wiley's 'fake science' scandal is just the latest chapter in a broader crisis of trust universities must address

John Wiley & Sons Inc is a publisher of academic journals. The company, better known as Wiley, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and each year churns out more than 1,400 scientific and other publications across the world. Last year, it turned over more than US$2 billion ($3 billion).

Wiley is a silverback in the strange, circular marketplace of scientific publishing.

The researchers who write for these journals, and the academics who edit them, do this work largely unpaid. They are subsidised by the same universities that also pay healthy sums to then buy the journals in question.

This industry, estimated to be worth $45 billion, is underpinned by giant licks of taxpayer money — including from Australia, which spends $2 billion a year on medical research alone.

Last year, a strange thing happened at Wiley.

In March, it revealed to the NYSE a $US9 million ($13.5 million) plunge in research revenue after being forced to "pause" the publication of so-called "special issue" journals by its Hindawi imprint, which it had acquired  in 2021 for US$298 million ($450 million).

Its statement noted the Hindawi program, which comprised some 250 journals, had been "suspended temporarily due to the presence in certain special issues of compromised articles".

Many of these suspect papers purported to be serious medical studies, including examinations of drug resistance in newborns with pneumonia and the value of MRI scans in the diagnosis of early liver disease . The journals involved included Disease Markers, BioMed Research International and Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience.

As the months ticked by, the number of papers being withdrawn mounted by the hundreds.

By November, Wiley had retracted as many as 8,000 papers, telling Science it had "identified hundreds of bad actors present in our portfolio".

A month later, in exquisite corporatese, the company announced : "Wiley to sunset the Hindawi brand."

A window into a thriving, lucrative black market

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Wiley has now pulled more than 11,300 papers and shuttered 19 journals. In the midst of it all, Wiley's chief executive Brian Napack was moved on.

The Hindawi scandal offers a window into a thriving black market worth tens of millions of dollars which trades in fake science, corrupted research and bogus authorship.

It also illustrates what is just another front in a much broader crisis of trust confronting universities and scientific institutions worldwide.

For decades now, teaching standards and academic integrity have been under siege at universities which, bereft of public funding, have turned to the very lucrative business of selling degrees to international students.

Grappling with pupils whose English is inadequate, tertiary institutions have become accustomed to routine cheating and plagiarism scandals. Another fraud perfected by the internet age.

Businesses openly advertise the sale of essays to desperate students, whose efforts are freighted with the expectations of far-away, often impoverished parents; their websites even have a toggle to select the grade you're willing to pay for.

Over an open chat, I asked a top-ranked essay provider on Google what I would have to pay for a masters-level, 3,000 word essay examining Homer's Iliad which would be guaranteed to score a high distinction. The answer took less than 60 seconds: $238.55. I was assured the paper would not trigger anti-plagiarism software.

This infection — the commodification of scholarship, the industrialisation of cheating — has now spread to the heart of scientific, higher research.

With careers defined by the lustre of their peer-reviewed titles, researchers the world over are under enormous pressure to publish. This is true in Australia, but it is especially true in poorer economies. An impressive number of publications in impressive-sounding journals can open the door to job opportunities and promotions. Citations have become a currency, and few institutions devote the time or resources to check the papers in question.

What is Australia doing about the problem?

Into this integrity gap has poured sharp practice. Shadowy online paper mills are selling authorship credits to those researchers willing to pay for them.

In remarks provided to investigative website Retraction Watch, the UK Research Integrity Office recently described the problem as vast: "These are organised crime rings that are committing large-scale fraud."

The mills, principally operating from China, India, Iran, Russia and other post-Soviet states, have even been planting stooges in editors' chairs at certain journals and paying bribes to others to ensure fake papers are published.

A recent Retraction Watch investigation allegedly identified more than 30 such editors, and kickbacks of as much as US$20,000. Academic publisher Elsevier has confirmed its editors are offered cash to accept manuscripts every single week. The British regulator said in January that one unnamed publisher "had to sack 300 editors for manipulative behaviour".

So, what is Australia doing about the problem?

In 2019, the federal parliament introduced new offences criminalising the advertisement of a commercial academic cheating service, with a penalty of up to two years in jail. The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency polices these provisions, and also has the power to block websites promoting essay mills. In 2022, it blocked access from Australia to 40 websites which had been attracting hundreds of thousands of visits.

These measures do not, of course, address research fraud itself.

More than a decade ago, the government claimed it had this particular problem in-hand, when the Commonwealth's peak research bodies — the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council — established a new quango to oversee the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research.

This Australian Research Integrity Committee (ARIC) declares that it works towards "ensuring high levels of community confidence in the integrity of Australian research" so that "the Australian public can have faith in research outcomes".

Calls for sweeping reform

In fact, ARIC has no role whatsoever in the investigation of academic misconduct.

In news which will surprise no one, governments have seen fit to leave that job to academics themselves: universities and research institutions are responsible for inquiring into allegations of research fraud in what is amicably described as "self-regulation".

ARIC's jurisdiction is smaller than the eye of a needle. It investigates only the process by which universities have conducted their investigations. Not their findings. And certainly not whether the allegations amount to a breach of the code.

The committee explicitly tells Commonwealth employees not to give it any evidence of wrongdoing where it is contained in Commonwealth documents, and warns whistleblowers it has no power to protect them from reprisals.

Australia's former chief scientist Ian Chubb, now with the Australian Academy of Science, is among many who are unimpressed with ARIC's role, and who have called for sweeping reform.

The academy says the current arrangements create "deficiencies in several areas such as coverage, accountability and transparency". Late last year, it called for the establishment of a "national oversight mechanism" to ensure the proper rooting out and deterrence of research fraud. That way, taxpayers "can be reassured that their money is invested in individuals and organisations committed to the highest standards of research conduct".

But the academy failed to grasp the nettle, and shied from the conflict of interest at the heart of the problem, proposing that universities still be allowed to run the misconduct inquiries themselves.

The problem is only becoming more urgent

Bruce Lander, the inaugural head of South Australia's anti-corruption commission, is among those who believe much more radical surgery is needed.

Lander points out the obvious (and somewhat universal) flaws of the self-regulatory regime. Reporters of misconduct, usually lower down the pecking order, fear their careers will be railroaded by having blown the whistle.

Universities suffer "a real disincentive" to carry out proper investigations, he says, not least because "it is not necessarily in the institution's best interests for it to become known that someone within the institution has engaged in research misconduct". They also have no powers to compel the production of evidence or even the cooperation of the accused, meaning "the opportunity to obtain evidence of that misconduct … is significantly reduced".

Lander says whatever financial drain such an investigatory body entails would be outweighed by the resulting "enhancement of the reputation for integrity" in the university and research sector.

The universities present a formidable lobby in Canberra, however, and have vociferously fought other attempts at regulation, including on questions of tertiary education standards and even the safety of their students on campus.

They have adopted a Wall Street-style approach to their missions, paying exorbitant salaries to their leaders and gunning for eye-watering surpluses . They are interested principally in the protection of their global rankings, to which they tie their prospects of attracting future fee-payers.

The problem is only becoming more urgent. The recent explosion of artificial intelligence raises the stakes even further. A researcher at University College London recently found more than 1 per cent of all scientific articles published last year, some 60,000 papers, were likely written by a computer.

In some sectors, it's worse. Almost one out of every five computer science papers published in the past four years may not have been written by humans.

Education was Australia's fourth-largest export industry last year. Even if realpolitik requires the putting to one side of noble, irritating questions of integrity and trust, shouldn't more be done to protect its value?

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Middle East Crisis Spain, Norway and Ireland Recognize a Palestinian State, a Blow to Israel

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• A mostly deserted refugee camp in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Eyad AL-Baba/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• A paramedic helping a wounded Palestinian man during clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Jenin. Leo Correa/Associated Press
• Waiting to collect water in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Mohammed Salem/Reuters
• A Palestinian man and his children in a destroyed home in Rafah. Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• Clashes continuing in Jenin. Zain Jaafar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• A mosque destroyed in a strike in Khan Younis. Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Recognitions of Palestinian statehood are a rebuke to Israel, if a largely symbolic one.

Spain, norway and ireland recognize palestinian statehood, the closely coordinated announcements by the three nations served as a rebuke to israel..

Today, Ireland, Norway and Spain are announcing that we recognize the state of Palestine. Ireland asked the world to recognize our right to be an independent state. Our message to the free nations of the world was a plea for international recognition of our independence, emphasizing our distinct national identity, our historical struggle, and our right to self-determination and justice. Today, we use the same language to support the recognition of Palestine as a state.

Spain, Norway and Ireland said on Wednesday that they would recognize an independent Palestinian state, a rebuke to Israel that, though largely symbolic, reflected dwindling international patience with its military offensive in Gaza and its decades of occupation of Palestinian territories.

Scores of countries have recognized Palestinian statehood, but the closely coordinated announcements by the three nations carried added weight amid the growing toll of the war in Gaza, and because most Western European countries, and the United States, have resisted taking such a step out of solidarity with Israel.

The moves will likely have little immediate effect on conditions for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank or in Gaza, where health authorities say that more than 35,000 people have been killed in over seven months of Israeli bombardment and ground combat. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called the moves “a prize for terrorism” and said that it would “not stop us from reaching a victory over Hamas.”

The White House flatly rejected unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood, with National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson saying that President Biden “believes a Palestinian state should be realized through direct negotiations between the parties.”

But the announcements made clear the view in a growing number of capitals that Palestinian sovereignty cannot wait for a permanent peace deal with Israel, whose right-wing government largely opposes a Palestinian state.

“Palestinians have a fundamental, independent right to an independent state,” Jonas Gahr Store, the prime minister of Norway, said at a news conference in Oslo announcing the decision, which will go into effect on Tuesday.

Spain’s decision will take effect the same day, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said, adding that Spain had been forced to act because Mr. Netanyahu did not have a plan for long-term peace with the Palestinians.

“The two-state solution is in danger,” Mr. Sanchez said in remarks to Parliament, referring to a proposed framework for establishing an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. “It’s time to move from words to action — to tell millions of innocent Palestinians who are suffering that we are with them, that there is hope,” he added.

Prime Minister Simon Harris of Ireland said at a news conference that he was confident that other countries would soon join them in recognizing Palestinian statehood.

Maya Sion-Tzidkiyahu, an expert on Israeli-European relations, said the announcements highlighted the erosion of the global support Israel saw immediately after the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks that touched off the war in Gaza.

“It proves again to us, as Israelis, the extent to which we are ever more isolated,” said Ms. Sion-Tzidkiyahu, an analyst at Mitvim, an Israeli foreign policy research group.

More than 140 countries and the Holy See have recognized a Palestinian state, but most Western European countries and the United States have not. The longstanding U.S. position is that recognition should be achieved through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, and that while it supports a two-state solution, unilateral measures by third parties will not advance that goal.

Israel strongly opposes international recognition of a Palestinian state — Mr. Netanyahu has called the establishment of such a state an “ existential danger ” — and maintains that Israel needs to negotiate directly with Palestinian leaders on a permanent solution.

But serious negotiations on a two-state solution haven’t been held for over a decade. And some observers argue that by not recognizing a Palestinian state, the West has enabled a far-right Israeli agenda opposed to its existence. It “gives leverage to Israel to keep encroaching on the land and resources and the people of the other state,” Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian envoy to Britain, said in a recent interview.

Palestinian leaders based in the West Bank welcomed the announcements. “We believe it will help preserve the two-state solution and give Palestinians hope that they will have their own state side by side with Israel in peace and security,” Ziad Abu Amr, a senior Palestinian official, said in an interview.

Wednesday’s announcements were the latest blow to Israel on the international stage, and came days after the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Mr. Netanyahu and Israel’s defense minister, along with leaders of Hamas, on war crimes charges stemming from the Oct. 7 attacks and the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Spain, Ireland and Norway have all strongly criticized Israel’s conduct of the war and have historically been strong supporters of the Palestinians. Ireland’s support for Palestinians has deep roots ; in Spain, Mr. Sanchez has been a leading voice in Europe for the protection of Palestinian rights.

Norway has historically cast itself as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians. In 1993, it hosted the clandestine meetings that led to the Oslo Accords, the framework that came close to resolving the conflict, but ultimately failed .

Prime Minister Store said Norway had acted with Spain and Ireland in an effort to salvage the possibility of a two-state solution in the face of an Israeli government that has openly rejected it.

Offering Palestinians who favor democracy and a sovereign Palestine alongside Israel, Mr. Store said in an interview, is an attempt to break what he described as “a downward spiral, with militant groups like Hamas setting the agenda on the Palestinian side” and the Israeli government “establishing hundreds of thousands of settlers” on occupied land.

He also said that the move sent “a clear message against Hamas,” he said, which is acting with terror and refusing to recognize Israel and a two-state solution.

“I wish to give credence and support to those parts of the Palestinian fabric who work for civilized principles of statehood,” Mr. Store said.

The announcements by Spain, Norway and Ireland and Wednesday do not, on their own, pose a major diplomatic problem for Israel, said Ms. Sion-Tzidkiyahu, the analyst. But the picture could change if more powerful states like Germany or France felt pressure to make similar declarations, she added.

“For now, we can live with it, because it does not have any real meaning,” she said. “It has no effect on the ground.”

Henrik Pryser Libell , Adam Rasgon , Victoria Kim , Michael D. Shear and Steven Erlanger contributed reporting.

— Emma Bubola and Aaron Boxerman

New footage is released of Hamas militants taking female soldiers hostage.

The families of several Israeli female soldiers taken hostage during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 have released video of their abduction in an attempt to pressure the Israeli government to revive stalled cease-fire talks that could pave the way for the captives’ release.

Family members first saw the footage a few weeks ago via the Israeli military, which formally handed them a copy on Tuesday night, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents families of hostages held captive in Gaza.

“I’m asking you, please show this clip every day, open your broadcasts with it,” Eli Albag, whose daughter Liri Albag can be seen in the video , said in a television interview with Israel’s Channel 12. “Until somebody wakes up, the nation wakes up, and realizes that they’ve been abandoned there for 229 days.”

On Thursday, the day after the video was made public, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that Israel’s war cabinet had ordered its negotiators to “continue talks to bring home the hostages” held in Gaza. But hopes for immediate progress appeared remote in the shadow of Israel’s ongoing military operation in Rafah, in southern Gaza, from which over 800,000 Palestinians have fled, according to the United Nations.

Some Israeli politicians immediately seized on the video on Wednesday to try to rebuff the decision by Ireland, Norway, and Spain to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state . Israel Katz, the foreign minister, said he would screen the footage during a “severe reprimand” of the countries’ ambassadors.

In the three-minute edited collection of videos, which were verified by The New York Times, Palestinian fighters, some wearing Hamas headbands, can be seen binding the hands of five Israeli women who served as lookouts at Nahal Oz, a military base near the Gaza border. At least two of the hostages’ faces are bloodied, and they appear to be wearing pajamas. The militants repeatedly threaten the women.

One of the militants calls the women “dogs,” vowing to crush them. One of the women can be heard telling the militants that she had “a friend in Palestine,” even as another begs to know if any of them speak English.

In a statement, Hamas said that the scenes presented in the edited video “could not be confirmed.” The group also claimed that a translation provided by the Israeli authorities was incorrect and included phrases “that were not said by any of the fighters who appeared in the video.”

Talks to secure the release of the more than 125 hostages still being held in Gaza have been at a standstill since Israel began its assault on the southern city of Rafah in early May. Israeli forces operating in northern Gaza retrieved the bodies of four Israelis abducted on Oct. 7, heightening fears for the remaining captives.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum identified the Israeli hostage soldiers in the video as Naama Levy, Agam Berger, Liri Albag, Karina Ariev and Daniela Gilboa, all aged 19 or 20. The footage was recorded by body cameras worn by the Hamas militants who abducted them, the organization said.

Families of hostages met with senior Israeli leaders on Wednesday, including Yoav Gallant, the defense minister, and Benny Gantz, a member of the country’s war cabinet, in an attempt to lobby for an immediate agreement with Hamas.

“The video is a damning testament to the nation’s failure to bring home the hostages, who have been forsaken for 229 days,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.

In a statement on social media, Mr. Gantz said he was appalled by the footage of the five hostages’ abduction, and vowed to make “difficult decisions” if necessary in order to bring home the remaining captives in Gaza.

Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition, said the video was “a reminder to the world of the evil we are fighting in Gaza.”

Dmitriy Khavin , Alexander Cardia and Riley Mellen contributed reporting.

— Aaron Boxerman reporting from Jerusalem

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The war is creating a widening divide between Europe and Israel.

In Europe, long a vital source of support for Israel, the political center of gravity is moving away from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Spain, Ireland and Norway on Wednesday recognized Palestinian statehood, despite vehement Israeli and American opposition. And most European governments offered unequivocal support to the International Criminal Court this week, after it requested arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and defense minister, along with leaders of Hamas.

Israel still has staunch allies within the European Union, especially Hungary and the Czech Republic, and key players like Germany, despite growing discomfort with Israel’s conduct, have not shown any inclination to alter their stance. The growing fissures within Europe mean that the consensus-driven European Union will not change its positions any time soon.

But European countries face rising international and domestic pressure to take a firmer stand against Israel’s handling of the Palestinian territories, and particularly the devastating war in Gaza.

Sweden prominently became one of a handful of European Union members to recognize Palestinian statehood a decade ago. Europe has long supported the eventual creation of a Palestinian state — the “two-state solution” that Israel’s government steadfastly opposes — and voiced frustration with Israel’s handling of the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, but most nations have been unwilling to go further.

Instead, the European Union, before the war, was moving closer to Israel, including through financially and politically important partnerships in trade and science.

The war, and the way it has evolved, are changing that. The sympathetic views that sustained European support for Israel after the Oct. 7 attacks is waning as the war continues, the humanitarian situation in Gaza worsens, and Israel looks to many people less like a victim and more like an aggressor.

Ireland and Spain, E.U. members, and Norway, a nation closely aligned with the bloc, took the next step on Wednesday, recognizing Palestinian statehood — a sharp rebuke to Israel, even if it has little practical effect and came as little surprise. The three European countries have been vocal in their criticism of Israel and support of the Palestinian cause, even as they have condemned Hamas and the brutal assault it led against Israel on Oct. 7.

If more of their neighbors follow their lead, the European Union could become a major counterweight to the American position that Palestinian statehood should result only from a negotiated settlement with Israel. That would deepen the rift between Europe and Israel.

There have been warnings and concerns, from Europe and other parts of the world, about Israel’s deadly and destructive campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Particular attention now turns to Belgium, another deeply pro-Palestinian E.U. country that has stepped up its criticism of how Israel is handling the war.

“We certainly have seen a growing chorus of voices, including voices that had previously been in support of Israel, drift in another direction,” Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, said at a news conference. “That is of concern to us because we do not believe that contributes to Israel’s long-term security or vitality.”

The European Union as a bloc has maintained its trade and other agreements with Israel, despite growing calls to sever or drastically limit them.

A majority of the 27 E.U. countries have held largely similar positions on the Israel-Hamas war since Oct. 7 and have undergone similar shifts.

They began with revulsion at the Hamas-led attack that killed an estimated 1,200 people and captured more than 240 hostages, support for Israel’s right to defend itself and continued hope for a two-state solution. They called for restraint by Israel as it bombarded, blockaded and invaded Gaza. Then came outright, increasingly sharp criticism of an Israeli campaign that has killed about 35,000 people — combatants and civilians — so far, forced most Gazans to flee their homes, caused shortages of food and medicines and leveled many of the territory’s buildings.

In standing by Israel, countries like Hungary and the Czech Republic may play a decisive role in determining what the European Union can and — especially — what it cannot do when it comes to the Middle East. Austria, too, has remained close to Israel while others have criticized it.

Foreign policy is a national prerogative jealously guarded by E.U. members that cede many other powers to the bloc. The group’s positions in international affairs can be reached only by unanimous consensus, making it unlikely that it will take a clear position on Israel and Palestine any time soon.

When the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor on Monday requested arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of Israel, most European countries, and the E.U. itself, stopped short of taking an overt position on the move, but said that they respected the court’s independence.

But the Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, said on social media that seeking the arrest of “the representatives of a democratically elected government together with the leaders of an Islamist terrorist organization is appalling and completely unacceptable.”

Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary called it “absurd and shameful.”

But Belgium’s foreign minister, Hadja Lahbib, said , “Crimes committed in Gaza must be prosecuted at the highest level, regardless of the perpetrators.”

The Foreign Ministry of France, the bloc’s second-largest nation, said , “France supports the International Criminal Court, its independence and the fight against impunity in all situations.”

Recognizing a Palestinian state is “not taboo” for France but the right moment has not yet come, the French foreign minister said on Wednesday after several European countries officially took the step. “This decision must be useful,” Stéphane Séjourné, the foreign minister, said in a statement.

Though France has refrained so far from acting on its own, last month it voted in favor of a U.N. Security Council resolution to recognize Palestine as a full member state of the United Nations. Britain, no longer in the European Union but still influential, abstained from that vote.

The United States, France and Britain are all permanent Security Council members, with the power to veto any action there. Only the United States used that power, demonstrating the widening divide with Europe.

The evolution of Germany’s stance will play an important role in determining the direction of E.U. relations with Israel. Germany is the bloc’s biggest member and has long expressed a unique commitment to Israel as a result of its Nazi history and the Holocaust.

Berlin started on the pro-Israel end of the E.U. spectrum in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7, but now it more openly criticizes the way Israel is conducting the war, and it has called for an immediate cease-fire, in opposition to Israel and the United States.

At a news conference in Berlin, Kathrin Deschauer, a spokeswoman for the German Foreign Ministry, did not signal any change in her country’s stand when asked about the Spanish, Irish and Norwegian recognition of Palestine.

“An independent state of Palestine remains a firm goal of German foreign policy,” she said. It is an urgent matter, she added, but must come at the end of a “process of dialogue.”

Aurelien Breeden contributed reporting from Paris, and Christopher F. Schuetze from Berlin.

An earlier version of this article misstated that for a decade Sweden was the only European Union member to recognize Palestinian statehood. It was one of a few members to do so, not the only one. 

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— Matina Stevis-Gridneff reporting from Brussels

What does it mean to recognize a Palestinian state?

The decision by three European countries — Ireland, Norway and Spain — to recognize a Palestinian state fits into a long-term goal of Palestinian leaders to secure diplomatic acceptance, but it appears that the immediate practical impact will be limited.

Broadly speaking, recognizing a state means declaring that it meets the conditions of statehood under international law. It typically opens a path to setting up diplomatic relations and an embassy there. But the European countries appeared to be mostly concerned with expressing support for Palestinians and sending a message to Israel at a time of deepening international concern about its conduct of the war.

The foreign minister of Norway, Espen Barth Eide, told a news conference that the country’s representative office to the Palestinian Authority, which was opened in the West Bank in 1999, would become an embassy. He gave no date for this change but said it would enable Norway to enter into bilateral agreements.

Recognition would also have some “domestic legal effects in Norway in areas where issues related to the state of Palestine arise,” he said.

Statements by the leaders of Ireland and Spain focused on the need for peace in Gaza and the importance of a two-state solution, but did not mention embassies or other immediate changes.

“Recognition of Palestine is not the end of a process, it is the beginning,” said Simon Harris , the taoiseach, or prime minister, of Ireland. He said that Ireland was recognizing the right of a Palestinian state to exist in peace and security within internationally agreed borders, and said that to do so sent a message “that there is a viable alternative to the nihilism of Hamas.”

Mr. Harris said he would travel to Brussels on Sunday to meet more than 40 partners from the Middle East, Europe and elsewhere “to discuss how recognition can make a concrete, practical impact to ending this horrible conflict and implementing a two-state solution.”

To date, around 140 countries, mainly outside Western Europe, have recognized a Palestinian state, according to the Palestinian Authority’s website. These do not include the United States, Israel’s most significant ally, or Britain, France or Germany.

The announcements on Wednesday fit into a broader Palestinian drive for diplomatic recognition , though the advances so far have had little immediate impact on the lives of people in the West Bank and Gaza.

The United Nations voted in 1947 to create an independent Arab state alongside a Jewish one, but the plan was rejected by neighboring Arab governments and Palestinian Arabs, and the state of Israel was founded amid a war the following year. In the decades since, plans for a two-state solution have repeatedly been stymied.

This month, the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution declaring that Palestinians qualify for full membership status at the United Nations. The Assembly can only grant full membership with the approval of the Security Council, and the United States would almost inevitably wield its veto power to kill such a measure , as it did last month.

Even though a majority in the General Assembly supports Palestinian statehood, the resolution was the first time the body had voted on the issue of full membership, reflecting solidarity with Palestinians that appears to have deepened in some nations as a result of the war in Gaza.

Palestine became a member of UNESCO, the United Nations cultural organization, in 2011, but a bid for full U.N. membership failed. The next year, Palestine was granted the lesser status of observer at the United Nations, a level shared by the Holy See.

Observers can participate in U.N. General Assembly sessions but are not allowed to vote. They also can join the International Court of Justice, which is currently hearing a case on the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, on Monday requested arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Hamas leaders on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel does not recognize the court, but Palestine has been a member of the court since 2015.

Palestine is also party to a number of treaties, and became a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in 2018 .

Henrik Pryser Libell contributed reporting.

— Matthew Mpoke Bigg

Israel’s finance minister says he will withhold tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority.

Israel will not transfer much-needed funds to the Palestinian Authority in the wake of the decision by three European countries to recognize a Palestinian state, the country’s finance minister said on Wednesday, as its foreign minister denounced the European moves as giving “a gold medal to Hamas terrorists.”

The decision by the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right leader who opposes Palestinian sovereignty, threatened to push the Palestinian government into a deeper fiscal crisis. He said in a statement that he had informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would no longer send tax revenues to the authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank in close cooperation with Israel.

Mr. Smotrich’s office signaled that the decision was at least partly a response to Spain, Norway and Ireland recognizing Palestinian statehood, and that the Palestinian leadership bore responsibility for campaigning for the move.

“They are acting against Israel legally, diplomatically and for unilateral recognition,” said Eytan Fuld, a spokesman for Mr. Smotrich, referring to the authority. “When they act against the state of Israel, there must be a response.”

The Israeli move drew a rebuke from the White House, but no threat of action in response.

“I think it’s wrong on a strategic basis, because withholding funds destabilizes the West Bank. It undermines the search for security and prosperity for the Palestinian people, which is in Israel’s interests,” Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, said at a news conference. “And I think it’s wrong to withhold funds that provide basic goods and services to innocent people.”

Mohammad Mustafa, the recently inaugurated Palestinian Authority prime minister , warned that the dire fiscal situation was contributing to a “very serious moment” in the West Bank, which has faced increasing unrest since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

He said that he was set to meet top diplomats from countries that have traditionally provided funding for the authority next week in Brussels. “We go through an extremely difficult time trying to deliver services to our people on the ground, and they’re already under military action,” Mr. Mustafa said in a video distributed by his office. “And on top of that, we cannot pay them to do the basic things. This is war.”

Israel also recalled its ambassadors from Spain, Ireland and Norway for consultations on Wednesday morning. Israel Katz, the Israeli foreign minister, said he had summoned the countries’ envoys to Israel for a “severe scolding” following “their governments’ decision to award a gold medal to Hamas terrorists.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Mr. Smotrich’s statement.

Under decades-old agreements, Israel collects customs and import taxes on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. Those revenues constitute most of the Palestinian budget, particularly as international aid has declined. But Mr. Smotrich — who has labeled the Palestinian Authority “an enemy” — had already delayed transferring the latest tranche of funds before the announcements on Wednesday, said Mr. Fuld and a Palestinian official. The Palestinian official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority is already in a severe financial crisis following tightened Israeli restrictions on its funding and a depressed West Bank economy stemming from the war. This month, it managed to pay only 50 percent of the salaries of tens of thousands of civil servants.

Diplomats and analysts have warned that the Palestinian government’s deepening financial problems could lead to even more unrest in the West Bank. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, many in clashes with Israeli forces, since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 prompted Israel to go to war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry.

Palestinians have faced tightening Israeli restrictions since Oct. 7. Over 100,000 Palestinians who worked in Israel were barred from entering, creating mass unemployment overnight. Near-nightly raids, Israeli road closures, and stricter checkpoints have further choked the Palestinian economy.

The Palestinian Authority traditionally disburses some of the tax funds collected by Israel to Gaza. After the war broke out in October, Mr. Smotrich said he would withhold that part from the amount it transfers to the authority. Palestinian officials refused to accept the reduced payments at all in protest.

After a monthslong standoff over the issue, Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to a deal stipulating that Norway would hold some of the revenues in trust until Israel agreed they could be sent to the Palestinians. The Palestinians agreed to receive the reduced payments in the meantime.

On Wednesday, Mr. Smotrich called for the government to immediately annul that agreement as well.

Top Israeli officials, including Mr. Netanyahu, have repeatedly excoriated international recognition of a Palestinian state as a “prize for terrorism” after the Oct. 7 attack.

Most of the current hard-line Israeli government rejects the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, practically ruling out peace talks to end Israel’s decades-long occupation.

President Biden and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken have said that after the war , Gaza should be unified with the West Bank under a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority . Israel has remained vehemently opposed to that idea. The authority in its current form is also unpopular among Palestinians, who view it as complicit in Israel’s occupation.

Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition, said he agreed with Mr. Netanyahu that the three countries’ decisions were “disgraceful.” But he also called it “an unprecedented diplomatic failure” for Israel in a statement on social media, an implicit reproach of Mr. Netanyahu.

Health officials report that the death toll has risen to eight in Israel’s raid of Jenin in the West Bank.

Israeli forces extended a military raid into a Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank into a second day, and Palestinian officials said at least eight civilians, including two high school students, a doctor and a teacher, had been killed so far.

Dozens have also been injured since the Israeli military entered the Palestinian town of Jenin on Tuesday morning, in the latest of a series of raids that Israeli officials have described as counterterrorism operations. Israel’s forces have trapped residents in their homes, torn up roads with heavy machinery and tanks, and destroyed vehicles in the streets, according to residents, local officials and the health ministry.

“No one can leave their homes; the military’s snipers are spread out over the roofs of the homes they took over, preventing anyone from moving in the streets,” said Nidal Naghnaghieh, a resident of Jenin.

Israel has increased its West Bank incursions in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, carrying out near-nightly military raids into Palestinian cities and neighborhoods. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed, according to health officials.

Many of the raids have been in Jenin camp, a more than 70-year-old refugee community within the larger city of Jenin that is populated mainly by Palestinian refugees and their descendants who were expelled or fled from their homes in present-day Israel during the war that surrounded the creation of the state of Israel.

Jenin has long been known as a bastion of armed resistance to the Israeli occupation and was the target of frequent military raids even before the war in Gaza.

The Israeli military did not respond to questions about the raid.

“The situation in the camp for the second day of their raid is really difficult, they have blown up several homes,” said Mr. Naghnaghieh, who was outside when the raid began and has not been able to return home for two days. His family is stuck inside their home, he said.

Many men and boys in the camp have been detained by the Israeli forces, he said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Israeli forces shot at one of their ambulances on Tuesday while it was trying to rescue the wounded, but it gave little detail.

“There are martyrs and people don’t know the fate of those who have been wounded,” said Mohammad Al-Sayid, a member of the Jenin city council.

— Raja Abdulrahim reporting from Jerusalem

Norway’s recognition carries significance because of its role in 1993 talks.

Scores of countries have recognized a Palestinian state, but Norway’s announcement on Wednesday that it would do so carried added significance because it hosted the clandestine meetings in 1993 that led to the Oslo Accords, the framework for peace that came close to resolving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. It ultimately failed .

Norway calls itself a friend of Israel, and the two countries have a longstanding relationship. But since Oct. 7, when Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas-led attacks, Norway has also sharply condemned Israel’s conduct of the war.

Norway’s foreign minister said in March that “Israel’s use of military force is having a disproportionately severe impact on the civilian population and is not in line with international humanitarian law,” and called for a cease-fire.

Norway also continued to fund UNRWA, the main U.N. agency that helps Palestinian refugees, after several other countries stopped doing so following Israel’s allegations that about a dozen of the agency’s employees had been involved in the Oct. 7 attacks.

In February, Norway testified at the International Court of Justice , stating that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem were among the biggest obstacles to peace in the region.

The Oslo Accords were landmark agreements that included mutual recognition between the government of Israel and the Palestinian leadership, which was able to return to the occupied territories from exile. The accords also established the Palestinian Authority, which was meant to be an interim body exercising limited Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In 2000, continued negotiations toward a permanent peace treaty to establish an independent Palestinian state alongside an Israeli one dissolved into a second Palestinian uprising and an Israeli military clampdown.

Jonas Gahr Store, the prime minister of Norway, said on Wednesday that “a recognition of Palestine is support to moderate forces that are on the defensive, in a long and gruesome conflict.”

He called the recognition “an investment in the only solution that can give lasting peace in the Middle East,” and he urged other countries to follow suit “so that the process towards a two-state solution finally can begin again.”

— Emma Bubola

In recognizing a Palestinian state, Ireland nods to its own history.

When the Irish government on Wednesday announced formal recognition of an independent Palestinian state, it drew on its own struggle for statehood and the violence that surrounded it.

“From our own history we know what it means: recognition is an act of powerful political and symbolic value,” Simon Harris, the taoiseach, or prime minister of Ireland, said at a news briefing.

Mr. Harris was nodding to the Republic of Ireland’s quest for self-rule in the early part of the 20th century after hundreds of years of British rule. He detailed how, on Jan. 21, 1919, Ireland asked the world to recognize its right to independence.

“Our message to the free nations of the world was a plea for international recognition of our independence, emphasizing our distinct national identity, our historical struggle and our right to self-determination and justice,” he said. “Today we use the same language to support the recognition of Palestine as a state.”

Ireland condemned Hamas after the group led the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that officials there say killed some 1,200 people. And since the start of the conflict in Gaza, it has sharply rebuked Israel for its assault that Gazan authorities say has left more than 35,000 people dead.

Mr. Harris emphasized that Ireland’s announcement, which came on the same day as similar moves by Spain and Norway , did not diminish his country’s relationship with Israel. Instead, he said, it was an acknowledgment that Israel and a state of Palestine had an equal right to exist.

“I want to know in years to come that Ireland spoke up, spoke out, in favor of peace,” he added.

The Republic of Ireland has a deep history of support for Palestinians and for their efforts to establish an independent state, and the announcement on Wednesday drew support from across the political spectrum and from within the country’s coalition government.

The small island of Ireland — which is made up of the independent Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which remained part of the United Kingdom — also experienced its own seemingly intractable sectarian conflict between mostly Catholic nationalists who supported independence and mostly Protestant unionists who supported alignment with Britain.

That conflict, which was marked by thousands of lives lost in terrorist bombings, shootings and clashes with the military and police over decades that came to be known as The Troubles, came to a close with the Good Friday agreement in 1998.

“Ireland has for many decades recognized the State of Israel and its right to exist in peace and security,” Mr. Harris said. “We had hoped to recognize Palestine as part of a two-state peace deal, but instead we recognize Palestine to keep the hope of that two-state solution alive.”

Mr. Harris also drew on Ireland’s history when he made a distinction between Hamas terrorism and the broader Palestinian population.

Asked whether recognition of Palestinian statehood would empower Hamas, Mr. Harris said: “Hamas is not the Palestinian people, and here in Ireland, better than most countries in the world, we know what it’s like when a terrorist organization seeks to hijack your identity and seeks to speak for you.”

It was a clear reference to the deadly terror attacks carried out decades ago by paramilitary groups across the islands of Ireland and Britain, often in the name of Irish independence.

“Palestine is made up of people, decent people. So is Israel,” he said, adding: “I think right-thinking people around the world are able to differentiate between the actions of terrorists and the decent people of a state.”

— Megan Specia