GAO Shang Associate Researcher School of Education University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260 USA Email:shg29@pitt.edu

• University of Pittsburgh (Doctoral Candidate, Social & Comparative Analysis in Education, present)
• Boston College (MEd in Educational Administration, 2006)
• Dalian University of Foreign Languages (BA in English Literature, 2002)

• International Higher Education Policies and Reform
• Comparative Higher Education
• Student Affairs Analysis
  
• Educational Leadership Studies
  
• K-12 Curriculum Design
  
• Discrimination Issues on Minorities
  
• Human Resources Management and Study
• Ethics and Equity Issues in Education

Shang Gao is currently a doctoral student in the Higher Education Management in the Department of Administrative and Policy Studies, School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh. Gao has been employed as an English Teacher in Tieling Foreign Affairs School, a vocational school in Northeastern China for three years during her undergraduate study. She helped to edit textbooks and reconstruct the curriculum for the school. She had developed a great interest in Educational Administration and Policy Study since then. Two of her papers “The Differences Studying First Language and Second Language for Vocational School Students” & “Assumptions to Make English Teaching More Practical and Useful in Post-secondary Schools” were awarded Outstanding Work in Vocational School Development in Liaoning, China. Meanwhile, Gao had been invited to attend the educational inspection tour organized by the Education Ministry of Liaoning Province to inspect in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, France, Germany, etc. countries, on the differences of primary and secondary education conditions and curriculum design.

By completing her bachelor’s degree in English Literature in 2006, Gao was enrolled in the Master’s program of Educational Administration, Lynch School of Boston College. While pursuing her Master’s degree, Gao had been actively involved in many research projects lead by Dr. Philip G. Altbach from the Department of Higher Education Administration on Internationalization of Higher Education. Through the opportunities of research, Gao found great interest in International Higher Education research and correlated studies. With her expertise in Educational Administration, Gao started her doctoral study in Higher Education Management in University of Pittsburgh, advised by Dr. James Jacob.

Research Interests & Current Projects

Gao is interested in International Higher Education Policy study, specifically in comparing education and social issues. She is currently employed as a Graduate Student Assistant by Student Life/William Pitt Union. She is provided with the opportunity to supervise student employees and have direct connection with the Student Affairs Division at University of Pittsburgh to learn different cultures and administration techniques through this position. Gao is going to be involved in International Higher Education research under the supervision of Dr. James Jacob starting the second year of her doctoral study.