Imagined future selves  : social, educational, and career aspiration of young women of muhammadiyah and nahdlatul ulama in Two Islamic Boarding Scholl in Yogyakarta

Pembicara: Claire-Marie Hefner, Emory University

How do young Muslim boarding school girls envision their future education careers, and Families? How do shifts in these trends reflect broader social changes in Indonesian Islam?  This paper is part of a broader dissertation project which looks at the gender socialization of young Muslim women in two islamic boarding schools in Yogyakarta: Madrasah Mu’allimat Muhammadiyah and Pesantren Krapyak Ali Maksum. Each school is affiliated, respectively with one of the two largest Muslim social welfare organizations in the world, the” traditionaist” Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and the “modernist” Muhammadiyah. These two schools were selected because of their national reputation and because of the critical role they play in molding future NU and Muhammdiyah female kaders (cadres). As private institutions with strong academic reputations, Mu’allimaat and Krapyak also cater to the needs and desires of the new Indonesian Mulim middle-class. This paper will examinne the results of a multiplevariate survey conducted with over 300 middle school and high schools students at mu’allimaat and Ali Maksum. The survey include multple choice and open-ended question regarding students origins, family background,  experiences at their respective institutions, views on marriage and family, educational and career aspirations, as well as media consumption. Survey results at both schools show a broadening in the range of career paths that these young women are envisioning and pursuing, as compared with previous graduates. At the same time, Indonesia has witnessed a dramatic dealiranization of islamic oganizations, leading some sholars to ask if the classic categories of muhammadiyah and NU are becoming less distinct. Based on eighteen months of etnographic fieldwork at Madrasah Mu’allimaat and Pesantren Krapyak Ali Maksum, This paper is preliminary examination of the study’s survey results, exploring what the diversification of models of selfi-identificationn and self-crafting mean for these young women-future members of Mumammadiyah and NU