The Political Economy of Higher Education: Inclusiveness, Societal Advancement, and Shifting Demographics 

Marie Azuelos

Deputy Vice President for International Affairs

Sciences Po

Marie Azuelos is the Deputy Vice President for International Affairs at Sciences Po. Since joining the institution in 2012, she has played a key role in advancing its global reach, previously serving as the Director of the Summer School & Short Courses and overseeing international development for Asia and the Pacific. Prior to this, she managed European projects at the Paris Chamber of Commerce and taught at École des Ponts ParisTech. A graduate of Sciences Po and Sorbonne University, she also studied in Germany at Freie Universität Berlin.

Yaprak Gürsoy

Professor of European Politics and Chair in Contemporary Turkish Studies

London School of Economics & Political Science

Yaprak Gürsoy is Professor of European Politics and Chair in Contemporary Turkish Studies at LSE. Her primary research interests are regime change and consolidation, civil-military relations, and foreign policy. Throughout her career, Yaprak has taken a keen interest in enhancing the practical aspects of student experience. Besides her faculty and research roles, she was the Undergraduate Programme Director of Politics and International Relations at Aston University (2018-2021) and the Director of the Master’s Programme in International Relations at Istanbul Bilgi University (2012-2016). At LSE, she served as the Chair of the Teaching Committee of the European Institute (2022-2024) and received an Excellence in Education Award twice, in 2022 and 2024. In March 2023, she organized a two-day workshop on Inclusive Higher Education in the Age of Transnationalism and co-edited a special issue on Higher Education during Times of Crisis in Türkiye, published by the LSE Higher Education Blog in April 2024.

Oleksandr Shtokvych

Senior Program Manager at the Yehuda Elkana Center for Higher Education

Central European University

Oleksandr Shtokvych is a Senior Program Manager at the Yehuda Elkana Center for Higher Education, leading the Secretariat of the Open Society University Network (OSUN). OSUN integrates learning and knowledge advancement across geographic and demographic boundaries, promotes civic engagement for open societies, and expands access to higher education for underserved communities. Oleksandr is also Co-Director of the OSUN Threatened Scholars Integration Initiative and manages CEU's research and outreach for higher education reform in Myanmar. This includes strategic planning, development, internationalization of key universities, policy formulation for university autonomy and quality assurance, and scholarship support for students, academics, and administrators. Prior to joining CEU in 2016, Oleksandr served the Open Society Foundations' Higher Education Support Program for fifteen years, leading faculty and curriculum development programs across Central Europe, Eurasia, South-East Asia, and China.