{"id":58570,"date":"2026-06-29T12:16:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T17:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iie.org\/?p=58570"},"modified":"2026-06-29T12:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T17:24:24","slug":"partnerships-are-everywhere-but-how-can-we-measure-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iie.org\/blog\/partnerships-are-everywhere-but-how-can-we-measure-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Partnerships\u00a0Are Everywhere, But How Can We Measure\u00a0Them?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Through a New Survey, IIE Is Building the First Global Picture of International Academic Partnerships<\/em> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

International partnerships have become one of the defining strategies for higher education institutions seeking to expand research, student mobility, workforce development, and global engagement. Yet despite their growing importance, the field lacks reliable global data on how these partnerships are structured, managed, and evolving. Without comparable data, institutions have limited ability to benchmark their efforts, identify emerging trends, or make evidence-based decisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To expand the body of knowledge in this under-researched space, IIE\u2019s Center for International Partnerships (CIP) has launched the comprehensive International Partnership Landscape Survey<\/a> (IPLS), the first survey solely dedicated to understanding international partnerships in higher education on a global scale. The survey, aimed at higher education professionals, examines why institutions pursue partnerships, how they manage them, where collaboration is expanding, and what challenges and opportunities are shaping the future of international engagement. Over time, the survey will produce comparative data that can help institutions strengthen their partnership strategies and provide researchers, policymakers, and organizations with a valuable resource for understanding global trends in higher education.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey is being conducted in regional stages to capture both global and local perspectives. Stage 2 is now underway across East Asia and the Pacific, expanding the project’s reach while generating new insights into one of the world’s most dynamic higher education regions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support this\u00a0effort,\u00a0the\u00a0CIP is\u00a0collaborating\u00a0with the experts at the\u00a0Asia-Pacific Association for International Education<\/a>\u00a0(APAIE)\u00a0who helped tailor the survey to reflect the region\u2019s unique higher education landscape and partnership ecosystem.\u00a0APAIE will also lead outreach efforts throughout East Asia and the Pacific, helping\u00a0to\u00a0ensure broad institutional participation and robust regional data. Together, IIE and APAIE aim to deepen understanding of how institutions can build stronger, more sustainable, and more impactful international partnerships.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey builds on the success of Stage 1, which launched in fall 2025 and gathered responses from higher education institutions in Canada, Europe, and the United States. The Stage 1 responses suggest that international partnerships are becoming more strategic, more institutionally integrated, and more closely aligned with long-term organizational priorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three themes emerged from the initial data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n