Faculty Profiles

Colleges and Departments

Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd

  • Chair - Professor - Org, Wkforce, & Ldrshp Studies
Portrait of Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd

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

  • 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), Percent Contribution: %100, Roundtree, Aimee Kendall (Co-Principal), Percent Contribution: %25, Sorto, Maria Alejandra (Supporting), Percent Contribution: %25, Campbell-Montalvo, Rebecca (Co-Principal), Percent Contribution: %25, Evans, Anthony (Supporting), Percent Contribution: %25. 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.
  • Lopez, Omar S (Principal), Ashford-Hanserd, Shetay Nicole (Co-Principal), Boden, Carrie J (Co-Principal), Cherrstrom, Catherine Ann (Co-Principal), Singh, Shailendra Mohan (Co-Principal), Xie, Lei (Co-Principal), Sherron, Todd (Co-Principal), Gottschall, Portia Manhan (Co-Principal). Workforce College Completion Collaborative (WorkforceC3), EDA American Rescue Plan Act Good Jobs Challenge, Federal, $1892062. (Submitted: February 15, 2022, Funded: September 1, 2022 - August 31, 2025). Grant.
  • Ashford-Hanserd, Shetay Nicole (Principal), Percent Contribution: %100, Feng, Li (Supporting), Percent Contribution: %5. 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), Percent Contribution: %25, Daniel, Kristy Lynn (Co-Principal), Percent Contribution: %10, Garcia, Dana M (Co-Principal), Percent Contribution: %10. 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.
View all grants
  • Kukde, R. D., Hough, T. D., & Ashford-Hanserd, S. N. (2025). NSF CAREER: Effects of Community Cultural Wealth on Persistence of Black and Hispanic Women in the P-20 Computing Workforce Pipeline in Texas. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--55776
  • 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
View all scholarly/creative works
  • 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
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  1. Reviewer / Referee

    Journal of Research in Technical Careers

  2. Reviewer / Referee

    Department of Energy (DOE)

  3. Other

    Department of Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education & School Psychology – School Improvement Ph.D. program

  4. Other

    Department of Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education & School Psychology – School Improvement Ph.D. program

  5. Reviewer / Referee

    United States Department of Agriculture / National Institute of Food and Agriculture

  6. Reviewer / Referee

    National Science Foundation (Virtual)

  7. View all activities