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A Comparative Study Of Secretarial Profession In Nigeria Yesterday And Today
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In early modern times, members of the nobility had secretaries who were
always men, who had command of several languages, including Latin, and
were required t have what we could consider today as broad generalized
education.
As commerce and trade expanded people of
wealth and power needed secretaries, confidants and trusted agents, to
handle correspondence on private or confidential matters, most
particularly matters of state. Men continued to dominate the
secretarial field.
Secretarial profession underwent
another evolution with the coming of the World War II in the Year 1940,
when the men were drafted into the armed forces and only the women were
left behind to carry on the secretarial jobs. Since that time,
secretarial profession all over the world had been feminine in nature
with men getting into it considered largely as intruders.
Recognizing that continuing education was imperative to career success,
a group of secretaries in America’s heartland became the nucleus of an
organization that would help to professionalize the occupation. In
1942, the National Secretarial Association (NSA) now known a
International Association of Administrative Professionals was formed.
NSA first administered the certified professional examination, a
standard of excellence for the profession in 1951.
Sir
Frederick Lord Lugard (the first Governor General of Nigeria) who
brought his wife to assist him in keeping and storing important
documents introduced the secretarial profession in Nigeria in 1914.
Today it has generally spread everywhere throughout the country. Every
organization now has a person who takes care of important and
confidential documents in the name of a secretary.
Akintola (1992) had it that the profession of stenographers was a male
affair up till the 1950’s few women were found in the profession and
these were expatriate executives. These male stenographers were never
placed as Confidential Secretaries rather only the female expatriates
were given such opportunities because their language was used, secondly,
they were well trained for the skills before coming to Nigeria. He
further stated that by 1960, the expatriates left Nigeria while some
Nigerian men and women on training replaced their positions. Lectures,
seminars and workshops were organized for secretaries.
The Definition of Secretary
The word “secretary†ultimately cam from the same Latin word “Sectrumâ€
meaning secret. Originally, it meant, “one entrusted with secrets and
confidence of a superiorâ€. In Middle English, it was secretaries and in
Middle Latin, it was Secretarius. In France from 13th to the 16th
century, the word secretaries meant a confidant. It also became an
administrative term meaning “someone who transcribes or arranges for
anotherâ€.
By 1847, the definition in the First Millennium
Webster Dictionary was greatly expanded. “Secretary†– (1) A person
employed by a public body or by a company or by an individual, to write
orders, letters, dispatches, public or private papers, records and the
like.
Secretary – (2) An officer whose business is to
manage the affairs of a particular department of government as the
secretary of state.
Today, the word “secretary†is
commonly stereotyped to mean a “person who types correspondence†or a
“dictation takerâ€. To better describe the administrative and
information management functions of today’s office support staff, the
term “administrative professionals†is recommended as blanked term for
office support staff by the International Association of Administrative
Professionals (IAAP).
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
This
research work intends to compare secretarial profession of yesterday
and today and effect of education, training, working conditions and the
modern technology on the profession.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ] This study aimed at comparing secretarial profession of yesterday and today. The problem observed in the study was that there is need to examine the productivity an deficiency of secretaries of yesterday years ad today. The need for this comparison is justified by the fact that the modern business environment is one place that has witnessed various changes especially in terms of technology. This, this study was carried out among secretaries and business executives who have secretaries work ... Continue reading---
