Dr. Ashford-Hanserd Appointed Chair of the Department of Organization, Workforce, and Leadership Studies

Dr. Gene Bourgeois, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, recently announced the appointment of Dr. Shetay Ashford-Hanserd as the Chair of the Department of Organization, Workforce, and Leadership Studies (OWLS), effective February 1, 2022.

Dr. Ashford-Hanserd joined the Department of Organization, Workforce, and Leadership Studies at Texas State University in 2016 as an Assistant Professor, receiving tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2021.  Dr. Ashford-Hanserd earned a B.S. in Computer Science in 2000 and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Career and Workforce Education in 2016 from the University of South Florida.  In addition, she holds graduate certificates in Project Management and Program Evaluation and earned an M.S.I.S. degree from the Occupational Education program in OWLS in 2011.  That same year, she was the recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Researcher award in OWLS.

Dr. Ashford-Hanserd worked for 13 years in the Information Technology (IT) sector as an intern, technical trainer, IT consultant, and global training program manager with Fortune 500 multinational corporations, including General Electric, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Dell Technologies.  She has served as PI or Co-PI on nearly $2.8M in federal research projects from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the United States Department of Agriculture.  She is an award-winning professor and scholar recognized as one of Alpha Chi’s Favorite Professors for 2018 and as an NSF CAREER scholar, which is “NSF’s most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty who demonstrate potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.”

Dr. Ashford-Hanserd’s research agenda primarily focuses on broadening participation of women of color and historically underrepresented minorities in the U.S. P-20 (preschool, K-12, undergraduate, graduate) STEM (science, technology, engineering, entrepreneurship, mathematics) and Computing (STEM+C) workforce ecosystem.  She has publications in a variety of outlets, including Community College Journal of Research and Practice, Emerging Issues and Trends in Education, Journal of Negro Education, Journal of Science Education and Technology, Journal of Transformative Leadership and Policy Studies, Social Sciences, and many others.

  Please join us in congratulating Dr. Ashford-Hanserd on her appointment as Chair of the Department of Organization, Workforce, and Leadership Studies.