The Attitude of Student Youth in the South of Russia to the 2021 Population Census

Introduction. A census is a necessary tool of managing a modern state. IT penetration into all spheres of life caused digitalization of census, the procedure which rests on consciousness and is voluntary in its nature. Transition to these technologies is related to a number of difficulties influencing the quality of census. The goal of the article is to identify the attitude of the south Russian students’ youth to participation in census, its optimal forms and the aspects causing major concerns among this target group. Materials and Methods. Students’ behavioral attitudes towards the census and participation in it, have become the subject of research. The research consisted of two stages: right before the census (2019) and right after it (2021). Using the method of standardized survey, the author has identified the attitudes and behavioral patterns of students from leading universities of Astrakhan and Rostov regions and the Republic of Kalmykia (n = 200 on 2019; n = 300 on 2021 in each subject). Constructivist approach considering different types of identities, referred to during the census as social constructs, has become the conceptual basis of the research. Results. The analysis of the empirical data gathered demonstrates a low level of student engagement in census accompanied by the majority of the target group lacking the comprehension of its sense. At the same time, the survey results point to the rise of civil identity paired with the stable interest to ethnocultural identity, high loyalty level to bilingualism and multiple cultural identity. Students have shared their concern about the quality of the census procedure. Discussion and Conclusion. The first experience of digitalizing the census procedure points to the necessity of using the youth appealing digital technology for appropriate presentation of this large-scale event and promoting it among the young audience. Lack of attention to this side of census defines the youth’s reluctant attitude to participating in it and may become the foundation for further distorting of its results. The obtained findings are useful to researchers when analyzing the results of the 2021 population census, as well as to specialists engaged in the development of the program and tools for the population census.