MA in Sociology

Katrina Burkett, 2022

Katrina Burkett

Katrina is a Registered Behavior Technician at Achieve Beyond. Before that, she was in the Accelerated Master’s Program at George Mason University, where she received her BA in Sociology with a concentration in Deviance, Crime, and Social Control and a Minor in Psychology, as well as an MA in Sociology. 

She pursued her MA in sociology out of personal interest in the discipline's ability to help provide research tools and methodologies that could be used to better understand underserved and underrepresented populations. Her particular population of interest during her BA and MA studies was learning-disabled individuals and their transition out of college. Katrina's Master's capstone project focused on the personal experiences of students with learning disabilities in postsecondary education in order to emphasize the barriers that prevent them from exceeding both academically and socially and how these barriers may impact their transition into the workforce post-graduation. 

During her final semester of graduate school, she began working at a pediatric clinic that served children with autism. She had decided to take SOCI 616 Sociology Practicum to get credit while working and during that experience, she was able to do a project that linked sociology to the field of applied behavioral analysis and how sociological methodology could strengthen what was known about the world of ABA and its impact on Autistic individuals and their loved ones. From that experience, she grew to love working with children with autism and is now working full-time as a registered behavioral technician. She plans to become a BCBA, to one day apply her experience in the field toward researching the long-term impact that ABA has on individuals with Autism and their loved ones.