Shibao Guo
Shibao Guo (郭世宝), professor of adult education at the University of Calgary, is internationally recognized for his longstanding scholarship in adult and lifelong education, transnational migration and diaspora studies, internationalization of higher education, multicultural and antiracist education, and comparative and international education. His pioneering work has significantly contributed to the understanding of immigrant experiences in Canada and the integration of immigration studies into adult and lifelong education.
Over the past twenty-two years, Guo has made outstanding contributions to the field of adult education with more than two hundred publications, including twelve books, fifty book chapters, and seventy-nine refereed journal articles. His works have been translated into Chinese, French, and Farsi. Among his publications, his most seminal are those that delve into the topics of transnational migration and adult and lifelong education. His single-greatest contribution to the field of adult education has been his theorization in 2013 of the “triple glass effect.”
Drawing on the integration experience of immigrant professionals in Canada, Guo described the triple glass effect as a three-part barrier to immigrants’ bettering their quality of life. The “glass gate” denies immigrants’ entrance to guarded professional communities; the “glass door” blocks access to professional, high-wage employment; and the “glass ceiling” prevents them from moving into management positions. As a result, immigrants suffer unemployment and underemployment, poor economic performance, and downward social mobility.
Guo’s theorization of the triple glass effect marked a major breakthrough in researching the dynamics and complexity of immigrant and refugee experiences. The theory enabled a more holistic understanding of the relationship between transnational migration and adult and lifelong education.
Guo also proposed transnational lifelong learning as an avenue for recognitive justice and inclusive citizenship. This idea questions the claim that a universality of citizenship transcends cultural difference and particularity. Guo instead suggested “pluralist citizenship” as an alternative form of citizenship that recognizes transnational flows of migration. In rejecting the deficit model of lifelong learning—the idea that students lack knowledge teachers must then impart to them—transnational lifelong learning acknowledges and affirms cultural difference and diversity as positive and desirable assets.
In addition to his groundbreaking scholarship, Guo has made exceptional contributions to adult learning through his professional leadership and service. He served as president of three national associations: Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education, Comparative and International Education Society of Canada, and Canadian Ethnic Studies Association. He also serves internationally on the board of Researching Work and Learning, Society of Transnational Academic Researchers, and World Council of Comparative Education Societies. He has coedited Canadian Ethnic Studies since 2012.
Guo is an honorary professor at the University of Nottingham, England, and adjunct professor of several universities in China. As a visiting professor, he has given more than 120 invited talks at more than 50 universities. Frequently cited in peer-reviewed journals, his innovative scholarship has put adult and lifelong education onto the radar of immigration and related fields of study. Guo’s publications comprise a substantial and distinguished body of high-quality research and scholarship that extends well beyond the field of adult and lifelong education.