Kellie S. Wilkerson

Graduate Research Assistant

Applied Sociology/Evaluation Research, Globalization, Sociology of Education, Statistics/Quantitative Methodology

Kellie S. Wilkerson is a doctoral candidate in the Public Sociology program at George Mason University. She is currently a Graduate Research Assistant at the Institute for Immigration Research (IIR) and has had opportunity to work on projects with the Center for Social Science Research (CSSR) and Next System Studies (NSS). Her research interests include applied sociology and evaluation research, globalization, international higher education, and quantitative methodology.

Kellie earned her MA in Public Sociology at Cal Poly Humboldt with emphases in both practicing and teaching sociology in 2020. There she explored the role study abroad participation played in the creation of "global citizenship" utilizing quantitative, qualitative and geospatial analyses, and plans to continue unpacking experiences with international higher education in her doctoral work. She received her BA in Applied Sociology from the University of Tampa in 2018, where she developed an interest in studying globalization through educational exchanges.

During her time with Next System Studies, Kellie was the Project Manager for Democratizing NOVA. In supervising the research team of undergraduate and graduate student researchers, Kellie developed the Democratizing NOVA database, and the project received an award for Outstanding Community Partnership. Kellie hosted the first Democratizing NOVA Summit for practitioners, scholars, and students; and organized the 2023 Next System Studies Workshop which included regional, national, and international scholars. In 2022, Kellie was recognized as the Devlin Family Scholarship recipient, an award given to a sociology student invested in leadership in the community by advocating for social justice. Currently, Kellie serves as an Ex-Officio member of the DNOVA Advisory Council.

At the Center for Social Science Research, Kellie was able to work with Fairfax County’s Neighborhood and Community Services on a project designed to identify protective factors that promoted older adult well-being through a systematic scoping review and focus groups. The model developed by the research team was presented in two parts to county stakeholders and also continues to be shared at academic conferences. Her current work at the Institute for Immigration Research involves geospatial and quantitative research with Immigration Data on Demand (iDod) and the annual Nobel Prize Report of 2023, which highlights immigrant contributions and international collaboration of Nobel Prize Recipients.

Previously, Kellie served as President for the Public Sociology Association where she oversaw the planning and implementation of the 2021 Public Sociology Conference, revamped graduate student advocacy positions within the department, hosted and organized workshops and related opportunities for professional development, and overall supported graduate students needs during the 2021-2022 academic year. She remained invested in supporting the graduate student experience and served as the Sociology PhD Representative to the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GAPSA) at Mason.

Kellie worked on developing a peer-mentorship program with her colleagues dedicated to easing the first-year transition for incoming graduate students. She is also engaged with a large network of sociologists interested in applied and public research, and completed a two-year term as Graduate Student Representative for the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology and enjoys remaining active in the local research community by acting as a Lead Research Assistant and mentor for the Social Science Research Lab.

Education

PhD in Public and Applied Sociology, George Mason University (In Progress)

MA in Public Sociology, Humboldt State University (2020)

BA in Applied Sociology, University of Tampa (2018)