1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
For the past few years, there has been an ongoing argument on the career choice among secretarial administration students.
Career is the totality of work which a person performs in his life time. It is a way of earning a living as well as a meaningful progression on a person's working life. It involves not only systematic education for initial occupation, but also a systematic occupational experience in which each occupation is considered as technical and social preparations for the individuals.
The preparation of a person on the acquisition of secretarial skill is in the right step towards employer ability. The executive secretaryship is an important aspect of office organization at it relates to division of duties and responsibilities. It has various names depending on the establishment employing the secretary such as, personal secretaryship, confidential secretaryship, company secretaryship, administrative secretaryship etc. Secretarial profession refers to professional area, which provides the services of communication and record with focus on the office functions giving, receiving, recording, analyzing and storing information. The professional is the secretary who is functionally described as the executive assistant, the personal assistant, the managers manager [The manager of the executive] or the private secretary.
Ohakwe, Idih and Chukwumezie (2000) states that a secretary is an assistant to the executive in performing secretarial duties such as taking dictation from the executive in important matters in shorthand and transcribing the dictated notes on the typewriter, handling personal and important mails most of which are confidential. The executive secretaryship is an administration officer who is responsible to the chief executive in the daily running of affairs of an organization. The secretary is equally in charge of all administrative matters, which include supervision of both senior and junior officers of the organization, all the managing directors function and full responsibilities for the secretarial and administrative duties required of a personal assistant. Therefore, secretaries are not managers as such, but they are indispensable to the management as no manager can function without secretarial services.
In many organizations, the secretary is provided with a position in the establishment even though he / she is normally attached to the top, middle to lower level management. In such establishments, close the secretary have a command a clearly defined responsibility which often includes supervision of clerical and secretarial staff under him in other establishments. The secretary may be merely attached to a superior officer but without an establishment of her own, she sits outside of her executive officer receiving his visitor taking notes and transcribing them.
The on-going argument on the career choice as to whether confidential secretaryship is better suited for men or women. Those who favour the woman claim that there are aspects of the secretarial work that are perceived to be outside the competence of male, while those who favour males claims, as well that there are aspects of the secretarial work that are outside the competence of females. The employers of labour are found to show their preferences to either male or female secretarial students depending their demand of work.
Secretaryship is a difficult and challenging profession. It is also entails rigorous training for both sexes. It can be more challenging profession for the women who combines secretary go into secretaryship are expected to rigorous training which spans from National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) and first degree.
The job of the secretary whether male or female is similar and would include receiving and giving management communication, storing management communication, safeguarding management communication and analyzing management communication etc.
Career abound in secretaryship in other words, those who train as secretaries, whatever the sex are faced with many careers on graduation such careers include the executive secretaryship earlier talked about, but many feels that executive secretaryship is better suited for the females. Other secretaries careers include Bilingual Secretaryship, Medical Secretaryship, Legal Secretaryship, Hausard Secretaryship, Court Reporting etc including careers in education is better suited for the male.
There have been some related studies, Emeribe (1999) conducted a study on employers preference of male and female secretaries and found among that the preference of employers for male secretaries. However, it does mot appear to have been any study that focused on the career choice of male and female in secretaryship, hence this study.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Secretaryship offers many options to the men or woman going into it. In other words, once a person has qualified by obtaining the Higher National Diploma (HND) she can select any career within the professions. Job prospects, job satisfaction, job prestige, job involvement are some of the factors that determine choice of career.
Given the opportunity which of the options available in secretarial career will appeal more to both males and females. The problem of the study, therefore, is to generate empirical data on the career preferences of male and females in secretaryship.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is to identify the gender differences and similarities in career choice among secretaries administration students.
Specifically, the study attempts to:
- To determine whether gender is a factor in the choice of types of employer
- To determine the gender preference for the popular secretarial career options
- To determine whether these is parental influence in choice of career among male and female secretarial students.
- To determine whether marital circumstances influence choice of secretarial career
- To determine whether remuneration, prestige job satisfaction, etc is a major factor in the choice of secretarial career among men and women.
1.4 Significance of the Study
This study is hoped to be beneficial to many people in several ways. This study is highly educative as it services as a basis for environment of knowledge in secretarial education.
It also helps the students by providing information that could guide both male and female students in their choice of career. The future researchers will also from this research as it serves as a basis for further research because no one have close it.
1.5 Research Question
The following research question will guide this study:
- Which employers do secretaries like to work for on graduation?
- What is the gender preference for the popular secretarial career?
- How dose parental influence affect choice of secretarial career?
- How does marriage influence choice of secretarial career?
- Which of the factors of remuneration job prestige job satisfaction, job involvement determine choice of secretarial career among men and women?
1.6 Scope of the Study
This research has been restricted to careers in the secretarial job family namely, executive secretaryship, which include personal, confidential secretaryship etc.
The study did not extend to other areas of business careers than those in secretaryship.
1.7 Limitation of Study
There are numerous militating against the cope of this project. All the secretarial administration students could not be reached due to the constituent. However, the study was limited to selected students of secretarial administration.
1.8 Definition of the Terms
Gender:
This is the classification by which nouns and pronouns (and after accompanying modifiers) are grouped and inflected or changes in forms in relation to sex or their lack of it.
Differences:
This is the state of holding an opinion unlike that of others, quality fact of being difficult.
Similarities:
This is close likeness. The state of being similar.
Career:
These progress through life, development and progress of part and principal way of making a living.
Choice:
This is the act of the voluntary power of selecting or separating from two or more things the determination of the mind in one thing to another executive. That is the person or group of persons in a business or commercial organization, with administrative or managerial power.
Secretaryship:
The position of office of a secretary, a secretary's term of office.
Questionnaire:
This is the list of printed questions to be answered by group of people to get factual information.
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