She worked on the Saturday Children's Hour (Lørdagsbarnetimen) on NRK radio during the 1940s.

She graduated in 1953 with a dissertation on the development of Norwegian children's stories.

She was associate professor of children's literature at the State Library College (Statens bibliotekhøgskole) (now Oslo and Akershus University College) from 1968 to 1994 and served as president of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights from 1972 to 1978.

It is awarded annually by the Department of Journalism, Library and Information Studies by Oslo and Akershus University College.

Kari Skjønsberg died in 2003 and was buried at Vestre gravlund in Oslo.