About

Director

Dr. Will Tyson

Will Tyson

Office: 
Faculty Office Building
201 USF Willow Drive
Tampa, FL 33620
Email: wtyson@usf.edu

M.A. (2001) and Ph.D. (2004) Sociology, Duke University

B.A. (1998) Sociology and Psychology, Wake Forest University

Dr. Will Tyson is a Professor of Sociology at the University of South Florida. His research examines how educational experiences shape career trajectories and lifecycle transitions, with a focus on structural and interpersonal influences on STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education and career pathways across high school, community colleges, and universities. He is the author of Teaching and Learning Employability Skills in Career and Technical Education (2020), which explores how career and technical education programs teach soft skills that are vital for middle-skill STEM jobs. 

In over 20 years as an NSF-funded researcher, Dr. Tyson has led multiple major projects including PathTech Tampa Bay, PathTech LIFE, and PathTech LISTEN, and he currently co-leads initiatives such as the TURNPIKE and CCSN Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) grants that aim to improve transfer student success and equity in STEM education, especially for rural, nontraditional, and low-income populations. As an evaluator, he is the External Principal Investigator for the Evaluation of the NSF Improving Undergraduate Student Education (IUSE: EDU) program led by Mathematica.  Overall, Dr. Tyson has helped secure over $27.5 million in NSF funding.  

Dr. Tyson joined IBL as Associate Director in August 2024 and began serving as both the Interim Director of the Institute on Black Life and the Interim Chair of the Racial Justice Initiative in August 2025. Starting January 2026 Dr. Tyson became and Director of the Institute on Black Life and the Chair of the Racial Justice Initiative.  In May 2026, Dr. Tyson was elected 2028-29 President of the Southern Sociological Society. 

Research Interests:

  • Sociology of education
  • Race, gender, and class
  • Occupations, organizations, and work

Courses taught:

Graduate

  • Race and Ethnicity
  • Sociology of Education
  • Sociology of Higher Education
  • Mixed Methods Research
  • Issues in Higher Education Practicum: Mixed Methods Research and Grantsmanship 

Undergraduate

  • Racial and Ethnic Relations
  • Introduction to Sociology
  • Sport in Society
  • Sociology of Education
  • Sociology of Higher Education
  • Research Methods