[2][3] Mallinson obtained her Ph.D. in sociology and anthropology, with concentrations in sociolinguistics and social inequality from North Carolina State University in 2006.
Mallinson received the Nancy G. Pollock Graduate School award from the NC State College of Humanities and Social Sciences for her dissertation, "The Dynamic Construction of Race, Class, and Gender through Linguistic Practice among Women in a Black Appalachian Community," which was directed by professor of Sociology L. Richard Della Fave.
Previously, she was a visiting lecturer in the Department of English at Duke University.
[8][9] Mallinson is the past chair of the Ethics Committee of the Linguistic Society of America[10] and has served on the editorial boards of the journals American Speech, Language & Linguistics Compass, and Voice & Speech Review.
[11] In August 2018, Mallinson was featured in the Linguistic Society of America's Member Spotlight.