Strict believers making jokes about educated female (8)
I believe the answer is:
puritans
'strict believers' is the definition.
'jokes about educated female' is the wordplay.
'jokes' becomes 'puns' (punning is a kind of joking).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'educated female' becomes 'rita' (reference to the film Educating Rita).
'puns' going around 'rita' is 'PURITANS'.
'making' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for puritans that I've seen before include "Killjoys, prudes" , "Stern religious people like Rasputin" , "Strictly religious people like Rasputin" .)