Abstract:

We observe a rise of social, political, and civic activity in many countries of the world today, e.g. 'Black Lives Matter' in the United States, protests in Belorussia and Armenia. Political life in Russia became active, along with the rise of the volunteer movement and different types of protest activities. The students of universities take part actively in this process. According to the latest studies, the majority of the students wish to take part in social and political life in any way. How will this activity help them to master their profession, build a career, and graduate successfully?

We studied the experience of taking part in different activities by the students of the Public Administration and Public Policy bachelor programs. The data of the study collected during 18 interviews with the students of the major universities of Ural Federal District. Informants were divided into two groups. The first group consists of the students taking part in the activities of such organizations like Youth Government, Youth Parliament, Youth Election Committee, Youth Branches of some political parties. These organizations were developed directly to socialize youth in politics; they perform consultative and advisory functions and should draw the attention of the authorities and society to the problems of young people. The second group consists of the students who volunteer in opposition parties, movements and organizations also in non-systemic ones - the parties that confront the current regime in Russia and their proper registration denied.

There are significant differences between these two groups of students in the motivation for participation, in their practical actions, and, as a result, in their skills and knowledge, they acquired participating in these activities. The main motives for the students from the first group are the self-fulfilment and acquiring experience for their future career. The skills that they have acquired and thought to be significant for them are project work, teamwork, event management skills, and inside information about the mechanisms of the Russian political system. Students from the second group (working in opposition organizations) indicated more altruistic orientations as the primary motive for engaging in political and civil life, the desire to change Russian society for the better and to achieve social justice. They have acquired not specific professional skills but broader – the skills to defend their position in the discussion, the ability to speak in front of an audience, knowledge of the laws and knowledge of the imperfections of these laws.

According to this, we concluded that all skills are essential and useful for the successful socialization of students both in the profession they receive at the university and in modern society as a whole. Universities should think about creating mechanisms and ways to attract more students to work in civil and political organizations, especially in the Humanities and Social sciences.

Keywords:

Students, Civil and Political activity, Skills, Youth, Universities.