The motives of students of Kyiv higher education institutions to serve in the defence forces after the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine

The article defines students as a special category of volunteers who joined the military service despite the legislative protection from mobilization for the study period.The theoretical foundations of motivation in interdisciplinary discourse and practical experience of encouraging people to serve on the example of different countries are analyzed.The empirical part of the study consists of 15 semi-structured in-depth interviews with students of Kyiv higher education institutions. The data analysis was conducted with inductive coding using the MAXQDA24 software.Based on the analysis, the following elements of the factors shaping motivation for military service were identified and grouped, including parenting practices, degree of trust in the family, conversations on history, language, culture, and politics in the child’s field – childhood stage; active involvement in various organizations, educational programs and activities that instill leadership and civic engagement skills – adolescence stage; practices of civic and political actions and volunteering, quality of education in higher education institutions and support from the university community, social surroundings – adulthood stage.The range of motives for joining the military, which informants recorded, was classified into social (to gain or regain a social environment, to self-realize); moral and psychological (to show solidarity with those who are already at war, to overcome apathy and guilt due to lack of involvement in the fight), civic and political (to join the active struggle and take responsibility for the future of Ukraine; to participate in the development of the modern Armed Forces), and economic (to have better economic opportunities).In addition to the conclusions of the study, the article also contains recommendations aimed at increasing the volume of mobilization among students in both the long and short term.