She enroled at the University of Indonesia, marrying fellow student Eka Budianta in 1977 and receiving a degree in English literature two years later.

[6] At the age of twelve, she won a writing competition sponsored by the magazine Si Kuncung for her story "Adikku Sayang" ("My Dear Younger Sibling").

[8] In the colonial era, Budianta's father had spent time with a touring theatre troupe,[3] and through his connections he obtained free tickets to stage performances.

[7] In a 2006 interview, she recalled that in her childhood she experienced discrimination for her Chinese heritage, such that she felt a sense of self-hatred and disliked hearing spoken Mandarin.

[4] Such prejudice was common in contemporary Indonesia; persons who were more culturally affiliated with China tended to view those who assimilated with disdain, and vice versa.

Although the school had no library, literacy was promoted by having students bring books from home, write their names on them, and collect them in a box in the classroom.

[1] Her parents initially opposed the idea, wanting her to take up stenography, but after an older sibling who had studied medicine failed to graduate, they gave their blessings.

[1] Concurrently with her baccalaureate studies, she taught street children in Tanah Abang, Jakarta, how to write in the Indonesian language;[1][11] this was intended to support a project of the Ursuline order.

[12] She undertook her doctoral studies in English literature at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, graduating in 1992[1] with a dissertation on the representation of otherness in the works of Stephen Crane.

Through public lectures and classroom lessons, students were exposed to varied non-literary subjects such as anthropology and the lived experiences of street children and medical patients.

[14] Budianta has written extensively about feminism, postcolonialism, and multiculturalism,[11] frequently using literary works as a starting point for exploring real-world phenomena.

She has argued that literature, which tends to be ignored by those in power,[3] often serves as the voice of the oppressed, offering "different perspectives, which sometimes we don't know because we're too caught up with our own community and people who are similar to us.

She has also explored the subject of Chinese Indonesian identity, including its practice during the 1997 Asian financial crisis as well as its manifestation through the dragon dance.