Joan Lidoff received a bachelor's degree from George Washington University in 1966 and a Master of Arts (1967) and a PhD (1976) from Harvard University. Lidoff's PhD thesis was on Christina Stead (q.v.) and she wrote further critical studies about the Australian author and her work.

During her career Lidoff has taught at the University of Massachusetts, Boston College and the University of Texas.

(Source: 'Pioneering Stead Scholar Joan Lidoff: A Tribute' by Judith Kegan Gardiner, Antipodes, vol.18 no.1, June 2004, pp.82-83)