How is access to higher education correlated to employability ? Should access to higher education be promoted to develop employment ? How is revenue correlated with access to higher education ?

At a time when investment in higher education is often positioned as a direct response to youth unemployment, Paxter unveils a ten-year international study covering 80 countries and accounting for 90% of the world’s youth population.

 

The authors of the publication - Pierre Aliphat, Nikola Damjanovic, and Pierre Tapie - provide a global documented analysis of the actual correlations between economic development, access to higher education, and employability, thereby challenging several widely held assumptions. The results may be surprising… They question long-standing assertions whose foundations prove to be fragile. These international findings shed new light on the situation in France.

Analytical framework of the study

 

The study is based on several key structuring variables :

By cross-referencing these variables, the authors critically examine educational policy choices and local economic dynamics through an international analytical framework that is both rigorous and robust, due to its scope and duration.

Open access publication starting July 2

 

The study will be available in open access, both as an e-book and as a PDF, on Paxter’s website starting July 2. Additionally, the study’s findings will be presented at an event organized in partnership with Les Echos, the most-renowned economic newspaper in France. This presentation will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Les Echos economic columnist Jean-Marc Vittori. Participants will include Professor Sylvie Retailleau, faculty member at University Paris-Saclay and former Minister of Higher Education and Research, Jean-Marc Sauvé, President of the Apprentis d’Auteuil Foundation and President of the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, Arnaud Vaissié, Co-founder and CEO of International SOS, Louis Vogel, French Senator, member of the “Académie des sciences morales et politiques”, and former President of France Universités.

This event will bring together higher education and research professionals, academic institution leaders, economic policymakers, journalists, and diplomatic representatives.

 

 

 

Consultant and Scientific Director at Paxter, Pierre Aliphat is a specialist in public policy for higher education and research. Trained as an engineer, he has held executive positions within academic institutions and served as General Delegate of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles. He works with universities, Grandes Ecoles, and public administrations on issues of strategic transformation, evaluation, and governance. He co-leads the production of international comparative studies at Paxter.

 

 

Nikola Damjanovic holds a PhD in mathematics, is a data analyst and an expert in pedagogical engineering. Following an academic career in France and internationally, he joined Paxter, where he has led strategic consulting missions and coordinated applied research projects. His approach combines economic, demographic, and institutional data to inform long-term education policies.

 

 

Co-founder and President of Paxter, Pierre Tapie is a graduate of École Polytechnique, holds a PhD in biophysics, and an MBA from INSEAD. He has been previously the Dean of the graduate school of engineering of Purpan, then the president of ESSEC Business School, and has served as Chairman of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles (CGE). He has conducted academic and consulting missions for governments, universities, research organizations, and investors in more than twenty countries. He currently works on issues of academic governance, strategy, and pedagogical innovation. Convinced that evidence-based knowledge should guide both public and private action, he has oriented Paxter towards the direct practice of research activity, which contributes to the very identity of the firm and provides a foundation for its consulting mission.

 

 

Paxter is a consulting firm specializing in academic strategy and pedagogical engineering. Since 2013, it has supported stakeholders in education, higher education, research, and innovation.