Following this, Dawson took on a temporary post as teacher of history at Bell Baxter High School in Cupar, Fife.
She remained the only female lecturer of Modern History during her time at the University of St Andrews.
In 1991, Dawson took up the position of the John Laing Lecturer within the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh and became Professor of Reformation History in 2007.
[4] Most recently, Dawson has published a definitive biography of the life of John Knox in 2015 in which she challenges traditional stereotypes which label the religious reformer as insular and misogynistic.
[5] Dawson retired from lecturing in 2017 but remains as Professor Emerita of Reformation History at the University of Edinburgh.