A modern university is a space for professional exchange, spiritual search, formation, development and self-development of the individual, students and teachers. Studying the motivational structures of student youth's civic engagement helps teachers in the search for teaching and communication strategies, and also contributes to project activities.
Student activity is considered as a complex process of social interaction, including communication and professional activities. The article presents a study of motivational structures that stimulate students to be active in cultural and educational projects. The experiment (February - August 2023, Kazan) was based on quantitative and qualitative methods, including a survey (158 people), analysis of successful cases, application of a narrative approach to the focus group method and expert interviews. It was revealed that motivational structures directly depend on the psychological profile of generations. For Generation X, the least significant motive is “Communication” (3.17 points) and the most significant motive is “Self-development” (4.83 points). For generation Y, the least important motive is “Presentation, personal brand” (2.47 points) and the most important is the “Knowledge” motive (4.84 points). For generation Z, this parameter, indicated as less significant, was rated at 3.83 points, the highest value for generation Z is the motive “Self-development” (4.93 points). For older respondents, the structure of motives becomes more complex, expanding the composition of the components that form the motive, which leads to more informed decision-making. The leading motive for participation in cultural projects for respondents of all ages was “Self-development.” The results of the study were tested in training programs by lecturers and students of the High School of Journalism of the Kazan Federal University when creating educational and cultural projects based on The Contemporary Art Gallery of the National Museum of Fine Arts (Kazan), which is aimed at youth audiences.