International university partnerships: a cost-benefit analysis

Abstract

This study’s purpose is to examine academic partnerships between universities in the United Kingdom and Korea. It aims to examine both partnership fundamentals and what leads to a mutually successful partnership. The fundamentals are the why, who and where. It aims to examine partnership formation and the relationships between partners, and the impacts of the partnership on the university.

This study uses qualitative interviews mixed with a cost-benefit analysis. The interviews serve two main purposes. The first is to gain a fine-grained analysis of why universities create partnerships and how they go about it. The second is to understand the partnership factors that impact universities. These impact factors are then used to create cost-benefit analyses of three different UK-Korea university partnerships, differentiated by intensity of partnerships, to illustrate the partnerships’ impacts on the individual universities.

Through thematic analysis, the qualitative results show that different types of partnerships are created in different parts of the university. The central offices create development co-operation and exchange partnerships, whereas the academic units create more exchange and commercial trade partnerships. However, in each of these partnerships, funding and international rankings are key motivations. The cost-benefit analysis shows that partnerships are beneficial to universities with commercial trade partnerships the most beneficial. The implications are that the academic units should work to create academic partnerships, with the central office helping in terms of standardisation and with the pastoral aspects of student services.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Michael Tomlinson: orcid.org/0000-0002-1057-5188

ORCID for Daniel Muijs: orcid.org/0000-0002-0131-8921

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