She earned an Honours B.E. in Accounting (China), an MBA (China) and a PhD in Accounting (Concordia University). Professor Shi previously taught at Concordia University, where she was nominated for the Distinguished Teaching Award. During her PhD study, she received many honours, including the Doctoral Fellowship of Social Sciences and Humanity Research Council (SSHRC), and the Research Fellow of American Accounting Association (AAA) Doctoral Consortium. Prior to her PhD education, she worked as an accountant for Huaneng Power International Inc. (China), a world-leading power generating company.