Higher Education and Research Ministerial Statistical Office

The Ministerial Statistical Office of Higher Education and Research is the Information Systems and Statistical Studies Sub-Directorate (SIES).

The SIES sub-directorate is a shared service of Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DGRI) and the Directorate-General for Higher Education and Employability (DGESIP) of the Ministry for Higher Education and Research.

The SIES sub-directorate is responsible for the project management of higher education and research information systems and determines how they will be designed and managed.

It produces data and carries out statistical studies to shed light on how higher education policy is defined and conducted, the professional integration of students, research and innovation as well as to assess the impact of these aspects.

Based on this work, it designs performance measurement and decision-making tools.

It takes part in drawing up European and international statistics (Eurostat, OECD and Unesco) in the area of higher education and research.

While carrying out its activities, it calls upon the evaluation, forecasting and performance department as necessary.

The higher education statistics system collects information, usually on an annual basis. In their design, the management applications incorporate the necessary information for statistical studies and employ classification. Student censuses are essentially conducted by relaying mostly automated files, which nevertheless involves significant work to monitor and adjust the data. Data about establishments and their teaching are collected, as well as about student enrolments and their exam success.

The SIES sub-directorate follows student cohorts with a view to understanding study pathways and conditions, and to gather family and social information that can be related to success in higher education. It coordinated a large survey system regarding graduates’ integration into the professional world.

As well as management data, the information system on research relies on a series of surveys carried out with different organisations in order to portray France’s research and experimental development efforts, in terms of human and financial resources. These include companies, higher education establishments and research establishments, University Hospitals (CHU) and CLCC centres (whose purpose is to fight cancer), public bodies, associations and foundations and research financing associations.

This information system is completed with data gathered from Local Authorities about their research budgets and the budgets they allocate to technology transfer, higher education and student life.

The SIES sub-directorate also follows cohorts of doctors to understand their professional paths, their working conditions and how they came to be in their roles.

Other management data (monitoring of research teams in universities, human resources, financial accounts, databases about patents and publications) are utilised to enrich sector knowledge in higher education and research.

Finally, the coordination unit for employment statistics in higher education and research undertakes two data gathering activities to build specific R&D employment indicators within the main research bodies. These include leading indicators at the national level, and other employment indicators provided by academies.

The SIES sub-directorate carries out general studies and analyses. It offers data and indicators that participates in the construction and monitoring of contracts for establishments under the supervision of the Ministry, whose results condition the allocation of their resources (numbers, success rate and so on). The entity offers 10-year projections for student numbers.

It is involved in developing and calculating performance indicators within the Ministry.

These data and indicators are made available to players in the higher education and research system via a set of thematic booklets and an internet portal.

Furthermore, the SIES sub-directorate produces forecasts concerning departures (retirement and other definitive forms of leaving) of higher education and research staff. Chiefly, the departures of tenured research professors are detailed by teaching discipline and by region.

Using different statistical sources, the SIES draws up indicators on the wages and bonuses of Public Scientific and Technological Establishments (EPST), on competitive recruitment within the EPSTs.

Data and studies are circulated through a series of publications, posted online as soon as they are published (Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletNotes d'Information du SIES, Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletNotes Flash du SIES) and on annual works (Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletRepères et références statistiques, l'Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletÉtat de l'Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Innovation, l’Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletÉtat de l’emploi scientifique, l'Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletAtlas régional, les effectifs d’étudiants, Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletVers l’égalité Femmes-Hommes : chiffres-clés).

Several data sets are also shared as Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletopen data.

The data and studies shared by the sub-directorate are available on the Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletMinistry website.