ABSTRACT
In Indonesia, the pesantren as an Islamic educational institution has been commonly understood to produce an output of religiously devoted persons, the graduates being known as an ulama or a kiai. 3 A number of ulamas or religious figures come from a pesantren background, from the national down to the village level. They are primarily male figures. Each of them is accorded a strong sense of [public] religious power and authority. But considering the large number of female pupils in pesant- ren, one question that might arise is whether they too would be expected to be future ulamas for their society, just like their male counterparts? What does society or parents expect when they send their daughter to a pesantren? Does a pesantren education for girls have a different emphasis from that of a pesantren education for boys, or do the aims of pesantren education manifest themselves in both male and female experiences?
