After studying Slavic history at the Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III, he earned Russian aggregation in 1965 and a Polish bachelor's degree in 1966.
Between 1964 and 1968, Beauvois taught Russian in high school and for one year prior, was a lecturer on the Polish and Russian culture at the University of Lille III.
He eventually decided to reside in Poland where from 1969 to 1972 he was a director of the French Culture Center at the University of Warsaw.
Following his relocation to Paris, between 1973 and 1978, Beauvois worked at the modern and contemporary history section of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).
While serving there, Beauvois obtained BA degree from the University of Paris in 1977 and for less than a year afterwards, served at the Nancy 2 University.
He returned to the University of Lille III as professor and served as such from 1979 to 1994, becoming a head of the Center for the Study of Polish Culture.