Where Are They Now

Katie Senn, Traversing Social Work

By Sera Gonzalez
December 1, 2023

Undergraduates selected for the Diversity Summer Research Award go on to pursue varying life and career paths. For 2019 recipient Katherine (Katie) Senn, receiving the award set off a domino effect that will see her graduating from The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill’s Master of Social Work program in Spring 2024.

“The SRNDNA diversity in summer research award opened many doors to me and ultimately informed my trajectory,” Katie said.

Katie’s journey began at UNC Greensboro where she earned a BS in psychology, minoring in American Sign Language. The SRNDNA award gave her the opportunity to take on a project manager position, which set Katie up to become a Lab Manager and Research Coordinator at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. There, she worked with a multidisciplinary clinical team, including social workers who impressed Katie with the level of care they provide to patients.

“The social worker profession was a highly appealing career trajectory because of its strengths- based, person-centered framework,” Katie said. “Social work also goes beyond the individual level, considering systemic and historical forces as well as aiming to institute macro-level preventative change.”

Katie credits her studies in psychology for fueling her desire to “better understand the human experience.”

“Learning about complex social phenomena such as stigmatization, discrimination, and prejudice altered my perception on how one is perceived in the world and how that in turn affects the way one engages and interacts within society,” she said.

These complex social phenomena are why Katie thinks it is important the sciences focus on including people with different lived experiences. She added that a diverse research team can impact community participation and that representation in top positions is fundamental to obtaining inclusive samples.

Additionally, Katie is working on completing the Substance Use and Addiction Specialist (SUAS) program. She is interested in trauma-related work, noting the overlap between posttraumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder.

“I look forward to partnering with my clients and supporting them on their journey toward recovery, whatever that looks like for them,” she said, adding that she has especially enjoyed partnering with the veteran population.