Dr. Ashraf joined UNCP in 1999. Along with teaching graduate and undergraduate economics and statistics courses, he has been involved in scholarly research. His research interests include monetary policy and theory, growth models, economic development, labor economics, and economic pedagogy.

He has published his research in scholarly journals such as: The Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences; International Business and Economics Research Journal; The Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge; Journal of Business and Economics Research; and Journal of Education for Business. He has also presented numerous refereed conference papers in the United States, Russia, and Europe.