[2] While at Stanford she started her university teaching career during her senior year when she was employed as an assistant in physiology and entomology.

[4] While at Stanford McCracken also began to undertake field trips and laboratory research on the genetics of beetles.

She also engaged in research on a wide range of other insects including mosquitoes, silkworms, aphids, and bees,[1] and was first to describe non-Mendelian inheritance as "purely maternal".

[2] During her sabbatical McCracken travelled to Europe where she studied at the University of Paris, returning at the beginning of World War I.

[2] After her retirement from Stanford she held the position of Research Associate at the California Academy of Sciences from 1931 through 1942.