ABSTRACT
The major purpose of this study, was to determine the career preference of male and female in secretaryship in order to identify the gender difference and similarities in career choice among secretarial administrations student. Secretarial Administration is not for any particular gender although there are some aspects of the secretarial work that are outside the competence of the female secretaries.
Secretaryship is a difficult and challenging profession. It is entails rigorous for both sexes. All those who go into secretary ship are exposed to rigorous training which spans from National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) first Degree.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Of The Study
For the past few years, there has been an on-going argument on the career choice among secretarial administration students.
Career is the totality of work which a person perform 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 secretary ship 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 organization, the secretary is provided with a position in the establishment even through 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 make and females in secretaryship.
GENDER DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES IN CAREER CHOICE AMONG SECRETARIAL ADMINISTRATION STUDENTS
