CAUSES OF OCCUPATIONAL CHANGE IN SECRETARIAL PROFESSION

A CASE STUDY OF INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY (IMT) ENUGU

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Secretary refers to a person who performs routines, administrative, or personal tasks for a superior. Those in secretary occupation perform duties such as typing, computer processing, and scheduling for an executive. Secretaries are often hardworking, important members of a business. Its administrative workings better than anyone else. Since the renaissance until the late 19th Century, men had assumed the title of secretary in the 1880, with the invention of the typewriters, more women began to enter the field since World War I. however, the role of secretary has been primarily associated with women. By the 1930s, fewer men are entering the secretarial occupation.

In an effort to promote professionalism amongst secretaries, the National Secretaries Association was created in 1942. As technology continues to expand to office across the professionals was greatly evolved office automation and organizational structure had led secretaries to assume a wider range of near responsibilities. One researches for managerial and professional staff. Many secretaries now provide training are orientation for new staff, conduct research on the internet, and operate and troubleshoot new office technologies. In the midst of these, however, their responsibilities have remained much the same, although changed from manual to electronic performing and co-ordinating an office’s administrative activities, storing, retrieving and integrating information for dissemination to staff and client.

Secretaries are responsible for a variety of administration and clerical duties necessary to run an organization and maintain paper and electronic files, manage projects, conduct research and provide information on the telephone, postal and e-mail. They also may prepare correspondence and handle travel arrangement.

With the above unique functions played by secretaries, it is sorrowful sighted that occupation change which Ozigi (1989) defined as picking up job in another discipline or field of endeavour outside what one has been working for some years has affected the secretarial profession, at present where, some secretaries who have been properly trained vehemently take up a job in another field of specialization abandon in the secretarial jobs, this idea of leaving one’s occupation or profession to another can also be observed but it is more pronounced in the secretarial profession. This work is therefore designed to find out why people trained as secretary take up jobs outside the secretarial profession.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM:

It is very surprising to observe the rate at which some trained and experienced secretaries abandon secretarial jobs to other fields of specialization. Some of them after being trained as professional secretaries pick up jobs in other discrepancies. This has resulted to a case of brain-drain in the profession. Despite the member of graduate secretaries being turned by our numerous tertiary institutions, the labour market is still lacking qualified and competent secretaries to perform secretarial duties this is majorly because these graduated secretaries prefer to work as managers, salesmen and women and marketers instead of secretaries. The question is why do these secretaries who are well trained in the profession prefer to work as other staff instead of as secretaries?

This is the reason for this study.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

The purpose or objective of the study is therefore to find out:

(a) The causes of occupational changes.

(b) Effects of occupational changes on secretarial profession.

(c) Effects of occupational change on the secretaries in business organization.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

This following research question were constructed to guide the researcher.

(a) What are the causes of occupational change in secretarial profession?

(b) What are the effects of occupations changes on the secretarial profession?

(c) What are the effects of occupational change on the secretaries in business organization?

1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

The Study was carried out to cover Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu. The study focused only on the cause of occupational changes in secretarial profession and the category of the staff are the junior and senior staff in secretarial studies.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY:

The study will be of great significance to secretaries, and those who wish to make secretarial profession their life career, the administrators, researchers, member of the public and Institute of Management and Technology (IMT).

The study will educate secretaries to appreciate the career prospect and prestige in their profession. It will encourage those that wish to make secretarial profession a life career not to give up because they will benefit a lot in secretarial profession.

The administrators of every organization will after reading this project appreciate the efforts of their secretaries and then change their negative attitude.

Members of the public will start to recognize the secretarial profession and encourage those who are interested in the occupation.

Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) will have the privilege to encourage their students about secretarial profession.

Furthermore, researchers will benefit from this study for their related studies.

1.7 Limitation Of The Study

Like in every human endeavour, the researcher encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. Insufficient funds tend to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size. More so, the researcher simultaneously engaged in this study with other academic work. As a result, the amount of time spent on research will be reduced.

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