Faculty Profile for Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd

profile photo for Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd
Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd
Chair - Professor — Org, Wkforce, & Ldrshp Studies
PED 101
phone: (512) 245-2115
Scholarly/Creative Work
Awards
Grants
Service

Biography Section

Biography and Education

 Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd is Chair and Professor in the Department of Organization, Workforce, and Leadership Studies at Texas State University. With over two decades of leadership experience across academic, nonprofit, and IT sectors, she is a visionary leader, award-winning educator, and nationally recognized researcher. She is the founding director of the ACCEYSS Research Group and principal investigator of multiple federally funded projects totaling over $11 million. Her scholarship and leadership focus on broadening participation in STEM+C education, interdisciplinary collaboration, and community-engaged learning. As a champion of inclusive excellence, she has led strategic academic initiatives, built strong university-community partnerships, and mentored emerging leaders across disciplines.

Research Interests

 Dr. Ashford-Hanserd's research agenda primarily focuses on broadening participation in the U.S. P-20 (preschool, K-12, undergraduate, graduate) STEM (science, technology, engineering, entrepreneurship, mathematics) and Computing (STEM+C) workforce ecosystem.

By integrating research into teaching and service, Dr. Ashford-Hanserd's research agenda is divided into three distinct, yet interrelated, research domains to inform students, community partners, and economic development or workforce stakeholders of evidence-based success factors and interventions.

1. Cultural, community, and historical contexts.
2. Student success factors and persistence.
3. Culturally-responsive pedagogy, interventions, and evaluation.

Selected Scholarly/Creative Work

  • Ashford-Hanserd, S. N., Carrera, L. S. F., Hough, T. D., Moreno, T. D., Mouton, A. J., & Wallace, I. (2024). Influence of community cultural wealth on undergraduate Hispanic and Black women’s persistence in the STEM+C workforce pipeline. Career and Technical Education Research, 49(2), 47–65. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5328/cter49.2.47
  • Cherrstrom, C. A., Lopez, O. S., & Ashford-Hanserd, S. N. (2022). STEM knowledge in non-STEM occupations: Implications for community colleges. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 46(7), 457–471. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2020.1868359
  • Ashford-Hanserd, S. N., Springer, S. B., Hayton, M.-P. E., & Williams, K. E. (2020). Shadows of Plessy v. Ferguson: The dichotomy of progress towards educational equity since 1954. Journal of Negro Education, 89(4). Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/journal/jnegroeducation
  • Ashford-Hanserd, S. N. (2020). You do belong! Transformative Black leaders encourage the next generation to excel in U.S. P-20 computing education. Journal of Transformative Leadership and Policy Studies, 10(1), 26–45. Retrieved from https://journals.calstate.edu/jtlps
  • Ashford-Hanserd, S. N., Sarmiento, E. R., Myles, C. C., Roundtree, A. K., Hayton, M.-P. E., Ybarra, E., … Maleki, S. (2020). African American experiences in the historic Dunbar neighborhood in San Marcos, Texas: A case study of counter-life stories. Social Sciences, 9(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9100177

Selected Awards

  • Award / Honor Recipient: National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) grant recipient, National Science Foundation. February 1, 2021 - Present
  • Award / Honor Nominee: Outstanding Abstract Award, ACTER Research and Professional Development Conference. 2022
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Teaching award of honor, Alumni Association of Texas State University. May 2020
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Face of AEA, American Evaluation Association. April 2019
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Favorite professor for 2018 award, The Alfred H. Nolle Chapter of the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society. November 9, 2018

Selected Grants

  • Qasem, Apan Muhammad (Principal), Royal, Cindy L (Co-Principal), Hewitt, Barbara A (Co-Principal), Dolezel, Diane M (Supporting), Omana Sudhakaran, Pratheesh O (Supporting), Lollar, Jonathan Ernest (Supporting), Booth, Chad (Co-Principal), Roundtree, Aimee Kendall (Supporting), Ekin, Tahir (Supporting), Cordero, Rafael A (Supporting), Lopez, Omar S (Supporting), Ashford-Hanserd, Shetay Nicole (Co-Principal), Sriraman, Vedaraman (Co-Principal), Forsythe, Michelle Elizabeth (Co-Principal), Mendez, Francis A (Supporting). STEM-CLEAR: Creating Contextualized Learning Pathways across Academic and Cultural Boundaries, National Science Foundation, Federal, $2646529. (Submitted: August 8, 2023, Funded: June 1, 2024 - June 2029). Grant.
  • Ashford-Hanserd, Shetay Nicole (Principal), Roundtree, Aimee Kendall (Co-Principal), Sorto, Maria Alejandra (Supporting), Campbell-Montalvo, Rebecca (Co-Principal), Evans, Anthony (Supporting). NSF INCLUDES collaborative change consortia: association of collaborative communities addressing equity for youth STEM+C cuccess (ACCEYSS) consortium, National Science Foundation, Federal, $4912236.76. (Submitted: March 22, 2022, Funded: August 1, 2023 - July 31, 2028). Grant.
  • Ashford-Hanserd, Shetay Nicole (Principal), Feng, Li (Supporting). CAREER: Effects of community cultural wealth on Black and Hispanic women’s persistence in the P-20 computing workforce pipeline in Texas, National Science Foundation, Federal, $920013. (Submitted: August 11, 2020, Funded: February 1, 2021 - January 31, 2026). Grant.
  • Ashford-Hanserd, Shetay Nicole (Principal), Daniel, Kristy Lynn (Co-Principal), Garcia, Dana M (Co-Principal). NSF INCLUDES DDLP - ACCEYSS: Association of collaborative communities equipping youth for STEM success (supplemental funding), National Science Foundation, Federal, $14999. (Submitted: May 6, 2019, Funded: December 1, 2019 - November 30, 2020). Grant.
  • Eaglin, Phillip G. (Principal), Muoneke, Ada (Co-Principal), Ashford-Hanserd, Shetay Nicole (Co-Principal), Singh, Shailendra Mohan (Supporting). Broadening participation to include African American and Hispanic students with disabilities in computer science learning using voice user interface project-based learning, National Science Foundation, Federal, $1616024. (Submitted: February 11, 2019, Funded: October 1, 2019 - August 30, 2021). Grant.

Selected Service Activities

Reviewer / Referee
Journal of Research in Technical Careers
August 1, 2017-Present
Reviewer / Referee
Department of Energy (DOE)
March 9, 2022-April 15, 2025
Adjunct Doctoral ~ Courtesy Graduate Faculty Appointment (Sascha Betts)
Department of Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education & School Psychology – School Improvement Ph.D. program
May 19, 2022-December 31, 2024
Adjunct Doctoral ~ Courtesy Graduate Faculty Appointment (Courtney L. Mcelhaney Peebles)
Department of Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education & School Psychology – School Improvement Ph.D. program
January 19, 2022-December 31, 2024
Reviewer / Referee
United States Department of Agriculture / National Institute of Food and Agriculture
September 24, 2018-December 31, 2024