[2] She completed her PhD (1961–1965) at the same university, with a thesis titled "The sandalwood trade in the south-west Pacific, 1830–1865, with special reference to the problems and effects of early contact between Europeans and Melanesians".
She moved to Sydney to take a position as tutor in colonial history with the Australian School of Pacific Administration (ASOPA) for three years.
[1] Her colleagues included anthropologists Camilla Wedgwood and Ian Hogbin, lawyers John Kerr and Hal Wootten and poet James McAuley.
[2] In 1950, she was the first Australian woman to win a Fulbright Travelling Scholarship which took her to Smith College in Massachusetts for two years where she completed a Master of Arts.
[4] After a career spent in both research and teaching at ANU,[2] Shineberg retired from her position of Reader in 1988, but returned as visiting fellow.