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
The Wave

Full contact details

Dr Will Mason
School of Education
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
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 Sheffield Methods Institute, University of Sheffield. Will is also programme director of the ESRC accredited MA Social Research.

Will has worked on research projects ranging from national 瞿500,000+ multiinstitution 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.
  • Mason W & Warmington M (2024) . Higher Education.
  • Mason W & Williams P (2022) . Methodological Innovations.
  • Mason W (2022) . Qualitative Research, 146879412210822-146879412210822.
  • Mason W (2021) . Qualitative Research.
  • 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.
  • Ratcliffe J, Gray J, Bools C, Wilson R, Wigfield A & Mason W (2021) . Child Abuse Review, 29(6), 559-573.
  • 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.
  • Mason W (2020) . British Journal of Criminology, 60(2), 382-402.
  • 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.
  • Mason WJ (2018) . Sociology, 52(6), 1117-1133.
  • Walsh JC & Mason W (2018) . Social Policy and Society, 17(4), 603-618.
  • Walsh J & Mason W (2018) . Social Policy and Society, 17(4), 679-681.
  • Walsh J & Mason W (2018) . Social Policy and Society, 17(4), 599-602.
  • 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.
  • Bunting L, Davidson G, McCartan C, Hanratty J, Bywaters P, Mason WJ & Steils N (2018) . Child Abuse & Neglect, 77, 121-133.
  • Mason WJ, Mirza N & Webb C (2018) . SAGE Research Methods Cases, Part 2.
  • Mason WJ & Bywaters P (2016) . Families, Relationships and Societies, 5(1), 155-161.
  • 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.

Book chapters

  • (2025) In Farrall S & McVie S (Ed.) Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Mason W & Wroe L (2025) , Handbook on Crime and Inequality (pp. 148-171). Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Mason W, Featherstone B & Bywaters P (2022) , Child Maltreatment (pp. 81-99). Springer International Publishing
  • 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

Reports

  • Mason W, Scott S, Melendez-Torres GJ, Tester-Jones M, Fairbrother H, Ali K & Jama O (2025) Investing in community services for young mens mental health
  • 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
  • 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
  • Mason WJ (2013) You Dont Come to Maple or You Get Bullets in Your Head: Somali Youth, Risk Talk and the Realities of Risk Avoidance

Digital content

  • Mason W & Unity Gym Project S (2020) #unitydoc : participatory filmmaking as counter-storytelling. Retrieved from
  • Mason W (2019) Police drugs crackdown operations can do more harm than good Ive seen it. Retrieved from
  • Mason W (2019) Knife crime : folk devils and moral panics?. Retrieved from
  • Mason WJ & Featherstone B (2017) Reframing child welfare inequalities: making sense with research and changing the conversation. Retrieved from
  • Mason W & Warmington M If you want students to read more, consider asking them to read less.
  • Mason W . Retrieved from
  • Mason W & Walsh J Reproducing the Stereotypes: Family Complexity, Resource Scarcity and Social Work Decision-Making..
  • Mason WJ No one walks out their house without a knife: living with violence as a daily threat. Retrieved from
  • 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.
  • Mason WJ A critical case for participant action research in youth work. Retrieved from

Dictionary or encyclopaedia entries

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

Will is the Director of the MA Social Research at the Sheffield 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.  

Wills 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