In Malawi, in spite of a number of gender equity policies and
initiatives that encourage females to pursue careers within the fields of science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), research indicates that they
are under-represented in these fields. One initiative recommended to address the
factors contributing to this under-representation is the development of a bridging
programme for female students. A bridging programme (or, course) is generally
defined as any course of study that addresses the gaps between students’ existing
knowledge and/or skills and the knowledge and/or skills required to successfully
make the transition to a new course of study. In this paper, two bridging courses
are compared for their lasting effects. The first one was carried out with Form
Three (year 11) female students while the second bridging course was offered as
a pre-entry course for female students admitted to University of Malawi (STEM)
courses. The bridging courses had similar components of academic subjects,
study skills, life skills, role models and excursions. The study found that both
bridging courses had positive impacts on performance in STEM subjects but the
most significant impact in both cases seems to be improvement in motivation and
study skills. This paper presents a brief analysis of data collected (through
interviews) with participants from both bridging courses and discusses these
findings.