McCartney received a Bachelor of Science summa cum laude with a major in psychology from Tufts University in 1977.

[6] McCartney came to Smith from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she was dean, and the Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Early Childhood Development.

During her tenure, Smith engaged architectural designer Maya Lin to redesign the historic Neilson Library.

[11] McCartney has written extensively on issues of gender, education and parenting, including essays and letters in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Worth, CNN, The Boston Globe, and HuffPost.

[14] The Boston Business Journal named her one of its 2016 Women of Influence, citing her extensive work on early childhood education.