Matilde Sánchez-Peña

Matilde Sánchez-Peña serves as Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), where her research centers on creating equitable and supportive environments in engineering education. Her work investigates intersections of mental health, diversity, and institutional culture through complex systems frameworks, with particular focus on underrepresented populations including women, international students, and minoritized groups within engineering disciplines.

Education:

• PhD in Engineering Education, Purdue University (2018)
• MS in Statistics, The Ohio State University (2014)
• MS in Industrial Engineering, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (2011)
• BE in Manufacturing Engineering, Autonomous University of Nuevo León (2007)

Dr. Sánchez-Peña's research program examines how engineering cultures impact student and faculty wellbeing through mixed-methods approaches. Her scholarship addresses critical gaps in mental health stigma reduction, equity assessment methodologies, and data science pedagogy, with emphasis on developing culturally responsive frameworks for inclusive engineering education. Current projects employ complex systems theory to evaluate broadening participation initiatives and their longitudinal impacts on institutional change.

Her recent publications (2023-2025) reveal three dominant thematic clusters: mental health ecosystems among engineering students (particularly help-seeking behaviors and stigma reduction), institutional diversity dynamics affecting faculty advancement, and pedagogical innovations in data science education. These works consistently apply intersectional lenses to examine how gender, race, religiosity, and immigration status shape educational experiences within engineering contexts.