[5] Hardy worked at the University of Sydney and at the CSIR McMaster Animal Health Laboratory during her fellowship, studying the heat tolerance, skin, and fibres of sheep.

In 1945, Hardy was appointed assistant research officer at the CSIR after her mentor Harold Burnell Carter challenged arguments that women were "a poor investment.

"[10] She went to the University of Cambridge in 1947[7] and studied at Newnham College, earning her zoology PhD in 1949[11] under the direction of cell biologist Dame Honor Fell.

[15] She was forced out of her job with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation because the Australian public service refused to employ married women.

In the 1960s, the Falldings moved to North America, where Margaret worked at Columbia University in New York before joining the staff of Canada's Ontario Veterinary College in 1966 as its second female faculty member.

[19] Hardy's curiosity-driven research inspired a new generation of stem cell scientists to use hair follicles as "an accessible and intricately beautiful model system.