Sanders completed her MA at Massey in 1984, and then spent 20 years working in health and social service planning and management.

[1][2][3] After graduating with a 2004 PhD titled Subject child : the everyday experiences of a group of small town Aotearoa/New Zealand children at Massey University,[4] Sanders joined the School of Social Work, where she is a Professor of Children's and Youth Studies.

[2] Sanders' research is on families and community, specifically on how to ensure children and young people get the best start in life.

Several recent research projects, including Pathways to Resilience (funded by MBIE), and the Long-term Successful Youth Transitions Study (LtSYT), conducted with her Massey colleague Robyn Munford.

[6] LtSYT examines the major transitions in the lives of high-risk young people between the ages of 13 and 17 – leaving school, higher education, employment, independence, and establishing an identity – and looks at the pathways that led to resilience and how those could be supported.