ROLE OF DIGITALIZATION AND INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS IN SHAPING STUDENT ACTIVISM IN STATE UNIVERSITIES

The primary aim of the current study is to investigate technological progress and the organization of administration by examining how contemporary digitalization and institutional processes governance define, affect and limit student activism in state universities through the lens of university faculty and administration. The study employed a qualitative research design to investigate in a systematic manner the nature of student political agency and campus friction. To collect the data, semi-structured interviews with the members of the faculty were held to address the issues connected to civic awareness of students, mechanisms of redressing grievances conducted by the administration, and the role of social media in mobilizations at the campuses. The received results were interpreted in accordance with Thematic Analysis and it became evident that institutional governance is often conducted according to the fundamentally reactive paradigm, i.e. administrative intervention often goes on only when grievances develop into noticeable protests or disturbances. The study also reveals that teachers view the current digitalization as a disconnecting mobilizer; on the one hand, social media can mobilize quickly and get solidarity instantly; on the other hand, faculty also believe that social media prevents the development of true empathy and can result in performative activism and identity crisis among student leaders. Also, there was a sharp paradox of hyper-vigilance of constitutional rights and the disregard of the basic institutional responsibilities by students, which is complicated in turn by outside media propaganda and partisan interests. To sum up, this paper highlights the pressing urgency of a shift in universities to lessen reactive crisis management and more towards institutional conversation, creating an organized space in which digital awareness is translated to constructive democratic action and not performance disruption.