Volunteering of students: Social meaning and basis of motivated refusal

Introduction. The relevance of the study is associated with the need for scientific understanding of youth volunteering, deepening ideas about its educational potential, which is realised in the education system. In the context of international and national studies, it is important to evaluate the volunteer participation of the younger generation, its social effects on society. The social effectiveness of volunteering is a necessary condition, the result of educational activities organised in the educational environment. The study meets the practical request to determine the conditions for changing the qualitative characteristics of students volunteering with an active agenda of state assistance to the pro-social activity of the youth in the Russian Federation. Understanding the motivation, intentions and real opportunities for volunteer participation of high school students and students is important for improving the effectiveness of solving the task of increasing the social activity of young people, defined in the framework of the state youth policy.

Aim. The article aimed to concretise the social significance of the volunteer participation of high school students and students and to determine the conditions for overcoming the motivated refusal of youth volunteering in the educational environment in order to increase the effectiveness of its organisation.

Methodology and research methods. The methodological basis of the article is a set of theoretical ideas about the formation of social solidarity and stimulation of pro-social behaviour of young people. The theory of social participation has received a certain development in the article. The article is based on the materials of the authors’ research projects implemented in 2017–2020 in the Sverdlovsk region. Having used the questionnaire method, the authors analysed the data of a mass survey of young people in the Sverdlovsk region from 14 to 24 years old from 81 settlements of the region. A representative sample consisted of 1105 people, the error is no more than 3,5%. The sample was based on four quotas: gender, age, the main type of employment (school, college, and university) and type of city by population.

Results and scientific novelty. The study showed that while maintaining a large number of students with experience in volunteering, the number of those, who consciously refuse or doubt that they will be engaged in volunteering in their future, increases. In recent years, the number of those, who have gained volunteering experience through initiatives in educational institutions, has increased significantly. The involvement of young Uralians in social projects has decreased. The study proves that the voluntary activity of young people is a necessary condition for the accumulation of social capital in territorial communities. The involvement of schoolchildren and students in youth organisations, in socio-cultural urban life is an important and necessary condition for effective volunteer participation of young people. It was revealed that volunteer experience is directly related to student interest in public life. It is proved that high school students and students with volunteer experience and intentions to continue it are more likely to be involved in the social and political life of their city or village than those who do not have such experience.

Practical significance. In schools, colleges and universities, there is an important task of organising not only the educational process, but also educational activities. When requesting mass youth participation and the typicality of socially significant events, it is important to understand the conditions when the qualitative characteristics of volunteering by young citizens as members of the local community are being developed.

1. Hu M. Making the state’s volunteers in contemporary China. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. 2021; 32: 1375–1388. DOI: 10.1007/ s11266-019-00190-9

2. Petrova T. Je. Advanced training in the field of volunteerism. In: XV Kovalevskie chtenija: materialy Vserossijskoj nauchnoj konferencii = XV Kovalev Readings: Materials of the All-Russian Scientific Conference. St. Petersburg; 2021. p. 658–660. (In Russ.)

3. Lee J. Bonding and bridging social capital and their associations with self-evaluated community resilience: A comparative study of East Asia. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology. 2020; 30 (1): 31–44. DOI: 10.1002/casp.2420

4. Feinberg A., Ghorbani A., Herder P. Commoning toward urban resilience: The role of trust, social cohesion, and involvement in a simulated urban common setting. Journal of Urban Affairs. 2020: 1–26. DOI: 10.1080/07352166.2020.1851139

5. Putnam R. Chtoby demokratija srabotala: grazhdanskie tradicii v sovremennoj Italii = Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy. Translated by A. Zakharov. Moscow: Publishing House Ad Marginem; 1996. 288 p. (In Russ.)

6. Suebvises P. Social capital, citizen participation in public administration, and public sector performance in Thailand. World Development. 2018; 109: 236–248. DOI: 10.1016/j. worlddev.2018.05.007

7. Davydov D. A. Social capital theory and its normative controversies. Politeia. 2014; 3 (74): 45–57. (In Russ.)

8. Kleiner T. M. The isolating side effect of civic participation. Journal of Sociology. 2020; 57 (4): 877–897.

9. Haski-Leventhal D., Bargal D. The volunteer stages and transitions model: Organizational socialization of volunteers. Human Relations. 2008; 61: 67–102. DOI: 10.1177/0018726707085946

10. Nursey-Bray M., Masud-All-Kamal M., Giacomo M. Building community resilience through youth volunteering: Towards a new model. Regional Studies. 2022; 9: 242–263. DOI: 10.1080/21681376.2022.2067004

11. Haski-Leventhal D., Paull M., Young S. The multidimensional benefits of university student volunteering: Psychological contract, expectations, and outcomes. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 2020; 49 (1): 113–133. DOI: 10.1177/0899764019863108

12. Martikke S., Cumbers H., Cox N., Webb L. building bridges into the community: Social capital in a volunteering project for care leavers. Children & Society. 2018; 33 (2): 111–125. DOI: 10.1111/chso.12300

13. Hoskins B., Leonard P., Wilde R. How effective is youth volunteering as an employment strategy? A mixed methods study of England. British Sociological Association. 2020; 54 (4): 763–781. DOI: 10.1177/0038038520914840

14. Shantz A., Banerjee R., Lamb D. The relationship between male and female youth volunteering and extrinsic career success: A growth curve modeling approach. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 2019; 48 (2): 201–225. DOI: 10.1177/0899764018807093

15. Cicognani E., Mazzoni D., Albanesi C., Zani B. Sense of community and empowerment among young people: Understanding pathways from civic participation to social well-being. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. 2015; 26: 24–44. DOI: 10.1007/s11266-014-9481-y

16. Alfes K., Shantz A., Truss C. Enhancing volunteer engagement to achieve desirable outcomes: What can non-profit employers do? VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. 2016; 27: 595–617. DOI: 10.1007/s11266-015-9601-3

17. Hietanen H., Aartsen M., Kiuru N. Social engagement from childhood to middle age and the effect of childhood socio-economic status on middle age social engagement: Results from the national child development study. Ageing and Society. 2016; 36 (3): 482–507. DOI: 10.1017/S0144686X1400124X

18. Gil-Lacruz A., Marcuello-Servos C., Saz-Gil M. Youth volunteering in countries in the European Union: Approximation to differences. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 2016; 45 (5): 971–991. DOI: 10.1177/0899764015609731

19. Stolle D., Hooghe M. The roots of social capital: Attitudinal and network mechanisms in the relation between youth and adult indicators of social capital. Acta Politica. 2004; 39: 422–441. DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.ap.5500081

20. Pearce S., Kristjansson E. Physical and social perceptions of the neighborhood and youth volunteerism: Canada’s capital region. Stability Amidst Change. 2019; 10 (1): 41–60. DOI: 10.22230/cjnser.2019v10n1a291

21. White E. S. Parent values, civic participation, and children’s volunteering. Children and Youth Services Review. 2021; 127: 106–115. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106115

22. Dean J. Class diversity and youth volunteering in the United Kingdom: Applying Bourdieu’s Habitus and cultural capital. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 2015; 45 (1): 95–113. DOI: 10.1177/0899764015597781

23. Davies J. We’d get slagged and bullied”: Understanding barriers to volunteering among young people in deprived urban areas. Voluntary Sector Review. 2018; 9 (3): 255–272. DOI: 10.1332/204080518X15428929349286

24. Cho H., Wong Z. E., Chiu W. The effect of volunteer management on intention to continue volunteering: A mediating role of job satisfaction of volunteers. SAGE Open. 2020; 10 (2). DOI: 10.1177/2158244020920588

25. Rjabcev A. A., Judina T. A., Cheremshanov S. V., Papazjan G. S. Sochi State University as a driver of event volunteering in the region. Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii = Higher Education in Russia. 2018; 27 (11): 108–116. DOI: 10.31992/0869-3617-2018-27-11-108-116 (In Russ.)

26. Kiseliova T. G. Motivation and ersatz-motivation of the volunteer activity. Jaroslavskij peda-gogicheskij vestnik = Yaroslavl Pedagogical Bulletin. 2013; 4: 33–37. (In Russ.)

27. Shapovalova I. S. Problems of implementation of the state youth policy in the reflection of regional youth. Regionologija = Regionology. 2021; 29 (4): 902–932. DOI: 10.15507/2413-1407.117.029.202104.902-932 (In Russ.)

28. Silvan K. Youth policy practice in post-Soviet Russia and Belarus: Past and present. World of Russia. 2019; 28 (1): 161–171. DOI: 10.17323/1811-038X-2019-28-1-161-171 (In Russ.)

29. Tarasova A. N., Pevnaja M. V., Telepaeva D. F. Self-regulation of youth volunteer activities or factors of non-participation of young volunteers in social projects. Nauchnyj rezul’tat. Sociologija i upravlenie = Research Result. Sociology and Management. 2022; 3: 155–171. DOI: 10.18413/2408-9338-2022-8-3-0-11 (In Russ.)

30. Starshinova A. V. Contradictions of students’ motivation for participation in the activities of voluntary organisations. Obrazovanie i nauka = The Education and Science Journal. 2019; 10: 143–166. DOI: 10.17853/1994-5639-2019-10-143-166 (In Russ.)

31. Jardim C., Silva S. Young people engaging in volunteering: Questioning a generational trend in an individualized society. Societies. 2018; 8 (1): 8–24. DOI: 10.3390/soc8010008

32. Beljaeva L. A., Zelenev I. A., Prohoda V. A. Volunteering in Russia: History and attitudes of the contemporary youth. Vestnik Rossijskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Serija: Sociologija = RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2021; 21 (4): 825–838. DOI: 10.22363/2313-22722021-21-4-825-838 (In Russ.)

33. Dean J. How structural factors promote instrumental motivations within youth volunteering: А qualitative analysis of volunteer brokerage. Voluntary Sector Review. 2014; 5 (2): 231–247.

34. Nezhina T. G., Petuhova K. A., Chechetkina N. I., Mindarova I. S. Motivation of youth participation in the volunteer movement. Voprosy gosudarstvennogo i municipal’nogo upravlenija = Public Administration Issues. 2014; 3: 49–71. (In Russ.)

35. Barsukova S. Ju., Zvjagincev A. V., Laptieva L. S. The experiences of youth participation in election campaigns and its impact on the civic position. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya. = Sociological Research. 2021; 7: 90–100. DOI: 10.31857/S013216250015537-3 (In Russ.)

36. Kisilenko A. V. Volunteering: the potential of self-organization of the Russian youth. Nauchnyj rezul’tat. Sociologija i upravlenie = Research Result. Sociology and Management. 2018; 1: 63–71. DOI: 10.18413/2408-9338-2018-4-1-63-71 (In Russ.)

37. Kisljakov P. A., Shmeleva E. A., Govin O. contemporary volunteering in the formation of prosocial behaviour of a person. Obrazovanie i nauka = The Education and Science Journal. 2019; 21 (6): 122–145. DOI: 10.17853/1994-5639-2019-6-122-145 (In Russ.)

38. Kuznecova A. A., Solovyeva N. A. Dynamics of psychological characteristics of a student-volunteer in the process of professionally-oriented volunteering activity. Obrazovanie i nauka = The Education and Science Journal. 2018; 20 (7): 128–146. DOI: 10.17853/1994-56392018-7-128–146 (In Russ.)

39. Kim J., Morgul K. Long-term consequences of youth volunteering: Voluntary versus involuntary service. Social Science Research. 2017; 67: 160–175. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2017.05.002

40. Maznichenko M. A., Papazyan G. S. Pedagogical conditions of students’ personal and professional growth in the context of volunteer activities. Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii = Higher Education in Russia. 2018; 2 (220): 103–113. (In Russ.)