With the assistance of a benefactor, Hofstra studied psychology and sociology in Paris in 1924, moving to the University of Amsterdam from 1925 where he switched to social geography.

[1] Between 1938 and 1949 Hofstra held the position of director of the Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam (then known as the Museum voor Land en Volkenkunde).

Alongside his duties in this position he served as professor by special appointment of African ethnology at the University of Leiden.

[2] Retiring from academia in 1968, Hofstra spent the final years of his life drawing attention to issues with factory farming.

He served on the Study Committee for Intensive Livestock Farming, a group established by the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals until his death.