CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
A secretary had been defined by the National secretary International Association as executive assistance who posses a mastery of skill, who demonstrate the ability to assume responsibility without direct supervision, who exercises initiative and judgment and who makes decision within the scope of assigned authority.
Stenographers and Secretaries are office workers whose jobs primarily require stenographic skills; namely proficiency in taking dictation with shorthand and transcribing it on the typewriter. There are more (3,000,000 persons employed as secretaries representing one out of every six clerical workers.
More than 98% of secretaries and stenographers are women (New Age Encyclopedia vol. 13). The secretarial profession came to Nigeria as a whole with the coming of the white men (Colonial Masters).
When the white men came to Africa, they needed to communicate with the blacks hence they searched for and made interpreters. These interpreters are indigenes of the various areas they visited. This enables both parties to communicate with each other. Through this, clerks were created by the white men and these clerks were later made secretaries when offices were set up but with little responsibilities.
Formally the work these secretaries where quite few but as time went on and with Nigerian independence in particular, Nigerians took over the post from the white men who dominate the profession.
The word secretary has a lot to do with secrecy. The secretary must be able to keep official secrets without reserve. The secretarial course and profession is now regarded as a course/career for women or female gender while the men go into other profession.
In time, more females are left in the profession than males. As a result, about 98% of employed secretaries and stenographers are females (New Age Encyclopedia vol. 13 page 359, office worker).
Unfortunately, the role of the secretary is quiet understood by most people especially in Nigeria. It is therefore follows that most of the problems confronting the secretarial profession arose as a result of misconception by people. They do not seem to understand what secretarial profession entails.
Consequently, the female secretaries in this profession are always faced with numerous problems. These problems range from their honor and domestic responsibilities to their jobs, their colleagues, social suspicions, sexual harassment from male bosses, job stress, office politics, lack of recognition in the society due to gender problems, initiation by the male counterparts as they seem to team up with the male bosses against the woman.
However, the married female secretaries are expected to exhibit a sense of responsibility, show a sign of maturity, royalty and reliability in the performance of her duty.
The problems the female secretaries does not end there, some married female secretaries have miscarriage of their unborn babies due to stress in their job. We all know the nature of secretaries work is such that can keep one busy for 24 hours, so at times some secretary/mothers with new infant will be busy working up and down in the office by frequent visit to the boss office distraction by phone calls and other official workers and before you know it, the forming baby will start threatening to go out, and if the good lord is not on their side they might loose the baby. According to Asogwu (1993) about 40% of miscarriages are as a result of stress.