Student Associations and Communities: Formats and Results of Activities (On the Example Consortium of Universities “Upper Volga - The Territory of Innovation”)

Abstract

The article reveals the features of the functioning of student associations and organizations in the context of modern socio-political reality. The purpose of the study is to identify the perception of students of public associations, their formats and the results of their activities. The empirical basis of the study is the data obtained during a series focus group interviews and expert interviews. The main research platform is the consortium of universities «Upper Volga - the territory of innovation». The main value-orientation attitudes of modern youth and students, their attitudes to citizenship, power and the social structure of modern society are revealed in the theoretical part of the paper. In the study itself, the actual situation was revealed both in the youth and student associations themselves, and the specifics of their interaction with students and the educational institution as a whole. Thus, in the course of the study, it was found that the awareness and involvement of students in the activities of youth associations remains at a low level. In turn, the broadcast topics and formats of the work of these organizations do not fully reflect the needs and preferences of modern students, which forms a certain distance between active and inactive students. The results of the study suggest that communication with students through university associations and organizations can be difficult and ineffective.