[4][6] She studied history at the University of Tasmania, where she resided at Jane Franklin Hall, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts on 10 April 1968.
[9] Her doctoral thesis, "The limits of hope: soldier settlement in Victoria, 1915–1938"[10] became a book with the same title in 1987.
[4] In 1988, she was appointed Senior Lecturer and made foundational Director of Women's Studies (1988–94) at La Trobe University.
In 1991, Lake was appointed Reader in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University.
"[13] In February 2019 Monash University Publishing released Contesting Australian History: Essays in Honour of Marilyn Lake edited by Joy Damousi and Judith Smart.
The contents are papers presented at a two-day celebration of Lake's career held at the University of Melbourne in 2016.
[15] Lake is a member of the reference group of the Australian Women's History Forum.