Paul Sander

Paul Sander is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Teesside University, affiliated with the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Law and the Institute for Collective Place Leadership. He has a rich international academic background, having previously served as a Principal Lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University for 16 years and continuing academic engagement while based in Mexico.

• Teesside University – Senior Lecturer in Psychology
• Cardiff Metropolitan University – Principal Lecturer in Psychology (1996–2012)
• El Claustro de Sor Juana, Mexico – University Teacher (2013)
• University of Navarra, Spain – Research Collaborator

His academic journey includes a PhD in Understanding the Learning for Better University Teaching from Cardiff Metropolitan University, an MSc in Intelligent Systems from Brunel University London, and a BSc (First Class Hons) in Psychology from University College London. He also holds a Certificate of Advanced Study in Spanish Language and Culture from Cardiff University and completed teacher training in language-culture education at UNAM, Mexico.

Paul Sander’s research is deeply focused on self-regulation, academic behavioral confidence, and the impact of regulatory teaching on student learning and motivation. His work explores how internal and external regulatory behaviors influence academic performance, procrastination, and satisfaction among undergraduate students. He investigates the social and cultural contexts of behavior, emphasizing the application of psychology in real-world educational settings.

His recent publications, primarily in Frontiers in Psychology, reflect a strong trend in validating behavioral scales and advancing theoretical models around self- vs. external-regulation. These works are applied across diverse psychological and educational contexts, contributing to both theory and practice in higher education.

• Advances on Self-Regulation Models (2022)
• Validation of Self- vs. External-Regulation Behavior Scale (2022)
• Regulatory Teaching and Academic Confidence (2021)
• Differential Effects on Learning (2020)

Paul Sander has actively supervised PhD students from Cardiff Metropolitan University and the University of Almería. He was the moderator for a franchised psychology degree program in Singapore and has coordinated international academic links, particularly between UK institutions and universities in Mexico and Europe. He is currently a Co-Investigator on a research project at Teesside University exploring social identification and student wellbeing.

He is a long-standing collaborator on a research initiative led by Prof. Jesús de la Fuente at the University of Navarra, Spain. His academic network spans multiple countries, and he continues to contribute to global discourse in psychology education and student behavior.