Dr. Cecily Hardaway is an Assistant Professor of African American Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Studies from Penn State University and a doctorate in Developmental Psychology with a formal concentration in Quantitative Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed postdoctoral training at the University of Virginia and the University of Pittsburgh and was a Research Scientist at Duke University before moving to the University of Maryland, College Park.

Dr. Hardaway’s program of research centers on understanding how socioeconomic status influences child development and family processes. Her work examines links between poverty-related risks (e.g., exposure to community violence and material hardship) and adolescents’ socioemotional adjustment and academic achievement. Dr. Hardaway’s research also focuses on understanding SES as a source of within-group variability among African Americans. She uses intersectionality as a conceptual tool to help illuminate how racism and economic disadvantage affect African Americans across classes. Her work has been published in psychology, family studies, and child/adolescent development journals, including the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, the American Journal of Community Psychology, and the Psychology of Violence.