The specific objectives of the Institute are to:

• Develop an integrated, interdisciplinary programme of gender studies within the university, at both undergraduate and graduate levels. This includes facilitating the incorporation of gender analysis in all disciplines.
• Produce and disseminate knowledge based on the generation and analysis of research data on women, men, and gender-related issues in the Caribbean.
• Establish and maintain linkages with national, regional and international institutions concerned with Gender and Development; provide advisory services; influence policy directions and assist with capacity building in these institutions

IGDS is committed to a programme of teaching, research and outreach that:

• Questions historically accepted theories and explanations about society and human behaviour.
• Seeks an understanding of the world wQhich takes women, their lives and achievements into account.
• Identifies the origins of power differences between women and men, and the division of human characteristics along gender lines.