WiSER was established as an interdisciplinary research unit in 1999. Our broad objectives are:

• To identify the cases and causes of women's disadvantaged social and economic status and to contribute appropriate policy initiatives to address this disadvantage.
• To demonstrate the way in which social factors, particularly gender, influence the construction of economic theory and policy.
  
• To extend current theory and research by placing women and their social context at the centre of analysis.
  
• To contribute an interdisciplinary approach to the understanding of women's position in society. In turn, this should enable the unit to better reflect the interrelatedness of the social, economic and political discourses in policy and their consequent implications for women.
  
• To foster feminist research both nationally and internationally.
  
• To expand linkages with industry.
  
• To establish and support a thriving Curtin University postgraduate research community with a common interest in feminist scholarship.