Katherine Howard died before she left her teens and lived in an era where even important women left little record. She wasn't an intellectual like her cousin Anne Boleyn, her successor katherine Parr, or Henry's first wife Catherine of Aragon. She didn't bear an heir like Jane Seymour or gracefully give way like Anne of Cleaves. All she did was make the obese, failing, aging Henry feel y young and virile and then be executed for treason.
Josephine Wilkinson provides a bit of background. Katherine's father was a bit of a ne'er do well (or failure) and when her mother died, Katherine was sent to live with relatives and generally neglected. She technically received a proper education in household management and embroidery and was literate, but was also left to the predation of older men.
Her descent from the Duke of Norfolk got her a position as a Maid of Honor to Anne of Cleaves. Her beauty attracted Henry's eye. He didn't know she'd ben molested - could her inability to conceive be due to damage or infection from one of her predators? (Personally, I think the problem was with Henry since Katherine Parr also didn't conceive during their marriage. By this point, Henry likely had type 2 diabetes and/or congestive heart failure, either of which would have impacted his fertility.)
Would producing a Duke of York have saved Katherine? Maybe, but her friendship with Thomas Culpepper (whether consummated or not) led court factions to inspect her earlier encounters. That would have cast doubt on the parentage of any child she bore. Katherine Howard was doomed from the start.
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