Public participation in social practices: incentives and barriers

The article shows the relevance of social practices study which is substantiated not only by the need of transition to an innovative development type including the creation of social projects of innovative orientation, but also by the lack of an unambiguous interpretation of this concept. The aim of the work was to study the population’s participation in social practices and identify its incentives and barriers. The information base included data on monitoring the quality of the population’s labor potential, sociological research “Social Health” (VolRC RAS), as well as the monitoring of civil society state (HSE). Various approaches to the interpretation of social practices are presented, their components are highlighted. Public engagement in social practice is analyzed in the context of motivational and regulatory components and a component related to abilities, both in terms of socio-demographic groups (the respondents’ age and sex characteristics were taken into account) and territorial aspect. The study identified the barriers and incentives for the population’s involvement in social practices. Among the first is the lack of desire and interest in such initiatives, employment and lack of time. Among the second is the confidence in the real benefits of such activities, experience of participation in practices, willingness to be engaged in creative labor activity at work and employment in the creative sphere. It is shown that the stimulation of employees to participate in social practices should be based on a comprehensive approach that allows combining material and non-material aspects. An important role should be given to participatory management involving talented and creative employees in the organization management on the basis of their career advancement and participation in innovative projects.