Dr Will Mason

School of Education

Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Sciences

Dr Will Mason
Profile picture of Dr Will Mason
w.j.mason@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 8368

Full contact details

Dr Will Mason
School of Education
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
91直播
S10 2AH
Profile
Understanding social inequalities - Meet Dr Will Mason

Dr Will Mason is a sociologist with expertise in youth and community work, child welfare inequalities, critical methodologies and community-based participatory approaches. He is currently a Lecturer in Applied Social Science at the 91直播 Methods Institute, University of 91直播. Will is also programme director of the ESRC accredited MA Social Research.

Will has worked on research projects ranging from national 拢500,000+ multi鈥慽nstitution studies, to small community-based projects that deliver bespoke and localised initiatives. His research topics include child welfare inequalities, youth services, poverty, criminalisation and social harm.

Will specialises in engaged scholarship and community-led university partnerships. He plays an active role in a number of local and regional community initiatives. Will has been a volunteer youth worker for over 10 years. In this role he has supported the coordination and delivery of five open access youth services, including homework clubs, youth clubs and community gyms.

Research interests

Will's research interests include:

  • Youth work
  • Social work
  • Consumption
  • Families
  • Identities
  • Inequalities
  • Qualitative research methods
  • Qualitative research ethics
  • University-community partnership
Publications

Journal articles

  • Mason W, Haybe M & Unity Gym Project (2024) . Sociological Research Online. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason W & Warmington M (2024) . Higher Education. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason W & Williams P (2022) . Methodological Innovations. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason W (2022) . Qualitative Research, 146879412210822-146879412210822. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason W (2021) . Qualitative Research. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason W, Morris K, Featherstone B, Bunting L, Davidson G, McCartan C, Bywaters P & Webb C (2021) . The British Journal of Social Work, 51(7), 2645-2664. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ratcliffe J, Gray J, Bools C, Wilson R, Wigfield A & Mason W (2021) . Child Abuse Review, 29(6), 559-573. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason W, Morris K, Webb C, Daniels B, Featherstone B, Bywaters P, Mirza N, Hooper J, Brady G, Bunting L & Scourfield J (2020) . Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 14(2), 164-183. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason W (2020) . British Journal of Criminology, 60(2), 382-402. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Featherstone B, Morris K, Daniel B, Bywaters P, Brady G, Bunting L, Mason W & Mirza N (2019) . Children and Youth Services Review, 97, 127-133. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason WJ (2018) . Sociology, 52(6), 1117-1133. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Walsh JC & Mason W (2018) . Social Policy and Society, 17(4), 603-618. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Walsh J & Mason W (2018) . Social Policy and Society, 17(4), 679-681. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Walsh J & Mason W (2018) . Social Policy and Society, 17(4), 599-602. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Morris KM, Mason W, Bywaters P, Daniel B, Featherstone B, Brady G, Bunting L, Hooper J, Mirza N, Scourfield J & Webb C (2018) . Child and Family Social Work, 23(3), 364-372. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Bunting L, Davidson G, McCartan C, Hanratty J, Bywaters P, Mason WJ & Steils N (2018) . Child Abuse & Neglect, 77, 121-133. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason WJ, Mirza N & Webb C (2018) . SAGE Research Methods Cases, Part 2. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason WJ & Bywaters P (2016) . Families, Relationships and Societies, 5(1), 155-161. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason W (2015) Austerity youth policy: exploring the distinctions between youth work in principle and youth work in practice. Youth and Policy, 114, 55-74. RIS download Bibtex download

Chapters

  • Mason W, Featherstone B & Bywaters P (2022) , Child Maltreatment (pp. 81-99). Springer International Publishing RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason W (2021) Radically slow? Reflections on time, temporality and pace in engaged scholarship In Clift B, Gore J, Gustafsson S, Bekker S, Costas Batlle I & Hatchard J (Ed.), Temporality in Qualitative Inquiry: Theories, Methods and Practices (pp. 142-157). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download

Reports

  • Mason W, Brasab S, Stone B, Soutar J, Mohamed A & Mwale T (2019) Youth violence, masculinity and mental health: learning from the communities most affected RIS download Bibtex download
  • Bywaters P, Bunting L, Davidson G, Hanratty J, Mason WJ, McCartan C & Steils N (2016) The relationship between poverty, child abuse and neglect: a rapid evidence review RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason WJ (2013) 鈥榊ou Don鈥檛 Come to Maple or You Get Bullets in Your Head鈥: Somali Youth, Risk Talk and the Realities of Risk Avoidance RIS download Bibtex download

Website content

  • Mason W & Unity Gym Project S (2020) #unitydoc : participatory filmmaking as counter-storytelling. Retrieved from RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason W (2019) Police drugs crackdown operations can do more harm than good 鈥 I鈥檝e seen it. Retrieved from RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason W (2019) Knife crime : folk devils and moral panics?. Retrieved from RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason WJ & Featherstone B (2017) Reframing child welfare inequalities: making sense with research and changing the conversation. Retrieved from RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason W & Warmington M If you want students to read more, consider asking them to read less. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason W . Retrieved from RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason W & Walsh J 鈥楻eproducing the Stereotypes鈥: Family Complexity, Resource Scarcity and Social Work Decision-Making.. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason WJ 鈥淣o one walks out their house without a knife鈥: living with violence as a daily threat. Retrieved from RIS download Bibtex download
  • Morris K, Mason W, Bywaters P, Featherstone B, Daniels B & Mirza N Why those most needing child protection might be least likely to get it. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mason WJ A critical case for participant action research in youth work. Retrieved from RIS download Bibtex download

Dictionary/encyclopaedia entries

  • Mason W & May T (2019) . In SAGE Research Methods Foundations (Vol 1). RIS download Bibtex download
Teaching interests

Will is the Director of the MA Social Research at the 91直播 Methods Institute. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In 2021, he was awarded Masters Teacher of the Year in the national FindAMasters.com and FindAPhD.com Postgraduate Awards.

Will has experience of teaching across a wide range of substantive and research methods courses. He currently convenes modules on the principles of research design, advanced qualitative methods and interdisciplinarity.  

Will鈥檚 teaching philosophy is closely informed by both critical pedagogy and an ethic of care. This emphasises (i) the value of extending and enriching knowledge in dialogue and (ii) doing so in ways that promote mutual understanding and growth. Will is committed to the enhancement of enjoyment in and through his teaching. His educational practice seeks to maximise enjoyment by (i) creating inclusive learning environments (ii) actively seeking and responding to student feedback and (iii) creating opportunities for students to practice their craft, in experiential learning encounters.

PhD Supervision

Kaltum Osman Rivers

Tessa Sawyer

Charly Morris