[1] Dixson is a scholar of education studies and her research applies several frameworks including critical race theory and Black feminism.
[2] She was a professor at the University of Illinois College of Education from 2011 to 2022 where served was also the interim director of the center for education in small urban communities in 2013.
[2][1] In 2021, she was elected a fellow of the American Educational Research Association.
[2][3] In 2022, she joined the University of Kentucky as a professor of educational leadership studies and the executive director of the education and civil rights initiative.
[3] In May 2024, Dixson was announced as the new head of the department of education policy studies in the Penn State College of Education, succeeding Kevin Kinser.