She worked as a guard at her father's shop, and helped him to conceal non-unionized workers in the cupboard when inspectors visited the shop. Falk expressed a desire to enroll at university though her traditionalist parents objected to this.[2] Nevertheless, she became the first member of her family to attend university by enrolling at Antioch College, Ohio, one of the few universities not to bar black students and impose quotas on Jews.[3] Falk graduated from the college with a Bachelor of Science in 1947.[1] She went on to study at University of Chicago, undertaking postgraduate research on diuresis (the increase in production of urine by a rat's kidneys), earning her a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).[3]