Staff Profile

Bonnie Slade is Professor in Adult Education for Social Change at the University of Glasgow and the Programme Leader for the Erasmus Mundus funded International Master in Adult Education for Social Change.

She is interested in how adult education, across a variety of contexts (workplace, higher education, community) can work as a tool for social change and individual empowerment.

She completed her PhD at the University of Toronto in 2008, and was a SSHRC Post Doctoral Research Fellow at York University from 2008 to 2010. Her interdisciplinary research draws on adult education, labour studies, migration studies, women’s studies and arts-informed research traditions to explore issues related to informal learning, migration and the labour market.

Since 2001 she has presented her research at fifty national and international conferences, and has published her work in academic journals and edited books. She is the co-author of the book, “About Canada: Immigration” (Fernwood Publishers, 2011). Her SSHRC-funded doctoral research examines how “Canadian work experience” requirements function to regulate immigrant professionals access to the labour market and contribute to the racialisation of the labour market; racialised immigrants are over represented in low skilled, low paid jobs despite their often superior educational credentials and international work experience. Her interest in these issues has grown out of her experience working as an Electronics Engineering Technician at a global electronics manufacturing company.

She has been a Co-I on the ESRC-funded network Examining Gender in Higher Education (EGHE): exploring gendered patterns of participation and success in STEM and beyond. A UK-African Countries Network, and is currently a Co-I on another ESRC GCRF funded project, Gendered Journeys: the trajectories of STEM students and graduates through higher education and into employment, in India and Rwanda.

Selected Publications: 

Slade, B. L. and Dickson, N. (2021) Adult education and migration in Scotland: policies and practices for inclusion.Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 27(1), pp. 100-120. (doi: 10.1177/1477971419896589)

Britton, A., Schweisfurth, M. and Slade, B. (2019) Of myths and monitoring: learner-centred education as a political project in Scotland. Comparative Education, 55(1), pp. 30-46. (doi: 10.1080/03050068.2018.1541667)

Reid, L., Kydd, A. and Slade, B. (2018) An inquiry into what organised difficult advance care planning conversations in a Scottish residential care home using institutional ethnography. Journal of Research in Nursing, 23(2-3), pp. 220-236. (doi: 10.1177/1744987118756477)

Ledger, A. and Slade, B. (2015) Coproduction without experts: a study of people involved in community health and wellbeing service delivery. Studies in Continuing Education, 37(2), pp. 157-169. (doi:10.1080/0158037X.2015.1022718)

Slade, B. (2015) Migrating professional knowledge: progressions, regressions, and dislocations. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2015(146), pp. 65-74.(doi:10.1002/ace.20132)

Fox, A. and Slade, B. (2014) What impact can organisations expect from professional doctorates? Professional Development in Education, 40(4), pp. 546-560.(doi:10.1080/19415257.2013.843579)

 

Slade, B. (2013) Professional learning in rural practice: a sociomaterial analysis. Journal of Workplace Learning, 25(2), pp. 114-124. (doi:10.1108/13665621311299799)

Slade, B. , Luo, Y. C. and Schugurensky, D. (2013) The experiences of immigrants who volunteer to access the labour market: pushing the boundaries of 'volunteerism'. In: Duguid, F., Mündel, K. and Schugurensky, D. (eds.) Volunteer Work, Informal Learning and Social Action. Series: The Knowledge Economy and Education (1). Sense: Rotterdam, pp. 101-114. ISBN 9789462092334(doi:10.1007/978-94-6209-233-4_6)

Slade, B. (2012) "From high skill to high school": illustrating the process of deskilling immigrants through reader's theatre and institutional ethnography. Qualitative Inquiry, 18(5), pp. 401-413.(doi:10.1177/1077800412439526)

Sangha, J.K., Slade, B. , Mirchandani, K., Maitra, S. and Shan, H.(2012) An ethnodrama on work-related learning in precarious jobs: racialization and resistance. Qualitative Inquiry, 18(3), pp. 286-296. (doi:10.1177/1077800411431555)

Gogia, N. and Slade, B. (2011) About Canada: Immigration.Fernwood: Halifax. ISBN 9781552664070

Mirchandani, K., Ng, R., Coloma-Moya, N., Maitra, S. , Rawlings, T., Shan, H., Siddiqui, K. and Slade, B. (2011) The entrenchment of racial categories in precarious employment. In: Pupo, N., Glenday, D. and Duffy, A. (eds.) The Shifting Landscape of Work. Nelson Educational: Toronto, ON, Canada, pp. 119-138. ISBN 9780176500658

Slade, B. (2011) Feminism: a profound paradigm shift. In: Gajardo, L. and Ryckman, J. (eds.) Becoming Feminists: An anthology of How We Became Feminists. Resources for Feminist Research (RFR) & Centre for Women's Studies in Education (CWSE): Toronto, ON, Canada, pp. 66-67.

Slade, B. (2011) The ideological practice of 'Canadian work experience': adult education and the reproduction of labor and difference. In: Carpenter, S. and Mojab, S. (eds.) Educating from Marx: Race, Gender and Learning. Series: Marxism and education. Palgrave Macmillan: New York, NY, USA, pp. 139-163. ISBN 9780230115811

Slade, B. (2010) Institutional ethnography. In: Mills, A., Durepos, G.and Wiebe, E. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Case Study Research. Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, pp. 462-465. ISBN 9781412957397

Mirchandani, K., Ng., R., Coloma-Moya, N., Maitra, S., Rawlings, T., Siddiqui, K., Shan, H. and Slade, B. (2010) Gendered and racialized journeys into contingent work. In: Sawchuk, P. and Taylor, A. (eds.)Challenging Transitions in Learning and Work Reflections on Policy and Practice. Sense Publishers: Rotterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 231-243. ISBN 9789087908881

Slade, B. and Schugurensky, D. (2010) "Starting from another side, the bottom": volunteer work as a transition into the labour market for immigrant professionals. In: Sawchuk, P. and Taylor, A.(eds.) Challenging Transitions in Learning and Work Reflections on Policy and Practice. Sense Publishers: Rotterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 261-283. ISBN 9789087908881

Jackson, N. and Slade, B. (2008) "Hell on my face": the production of workplace il-literacy. In: DeVault, M. (ed.) Embodied Workers in The New Economy. New York University Press: New York, NY, USA, pp. 25-40.

Mirchandani, K., Ng., R., Coloma-Moya, N., Maitra, S., Rawlings, T., Siddiqui, K., Shan, H. and Slade, B. (2008) The paradox of training and learning in a culture of contingency. In: Livingstone, D., Sawchuk, P. and Mirchandani, K. (eds.) The Future of Lifelong Learning and Work: Critical Perspectives. Sense Publishers: Rotterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 171-185. ISBN 9789087904005

Schugurensky, D. and Slade, B. (2008) New immigrants, volunteer work and labour market integration: on learning and re-building social capital. In: Livingstone, D., Sawchuk, P. and Mirchandani, K.(eds.) The Future of Lifelong Learning and Work: Critical Perspectives. Sense Publishers: Rotterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 263-275. ISBN 9789087904005

Slade, B. (2008) Engineering barriers: an empirical investigation into the mechanics of downward mobility. Socialist Studies, 4(2), pp. 21-40.

Slade, B. (2007) Gender inequality. In: Darity, W.A. (ed.)International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Macmillan Reference USA: Detroit, IL, USA. ISBN 9780028659657

Slade, B. (2007) Intersectionality. In: Darity, W.A. (ed.) International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Macmillan Reference USA: Detroit, IL, USA. ISBN 9780028659657

Slade, B. (2004) Highly skilled and under-theorized: women migrant professionals. In: Folson, R.B. (ed.) Calculated Kindness Global Restructuring, Immigration and Settlement in Canada.Fernwood Publishing: Halifax, NS, Canada, pp. 102-116. ISBN 9781552661314