| The secretarial occupation faces severe problems of personnel shortages, due largely to negative images of the profession. The work is regarded as low-paying and menial, and secretaries themselves are thought of as unintelligent and uncommitted to their jobs. While some evidence refutes many of these contentions, problems of image persist and the shortage of qualified secretarial personnel is expected to worsen.;An analysis of the secretarial occupation was undertaken according to the principles of the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) model developed by J. Richard Hackman and Greg R. Oldham. The goals of this study were (a) to understand the five core job dimensions of skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback as they apply to the secretarial occupation and, (b) to relate the levels of these core job dimensions to the critical psychological states of experienced meaningfulness, experienced responsibility, and knowledge of results. Research procedures included a review of literature and the conducting of a survey of secretarial workers and their supervisors at New Mexico State University.;First, the study found significant correlations between three core job dimensions -- skill variety, task identity, task significance, and experienced meaningfulness of the job. Secondly, the fourth dimension, autonomy, and the independent variable, experienced responsibility for the outcomes of work was also found to be correlated. Thirdly, a positive relationship between feedback and knowing the results of one's work was also found. An additional hypothesis, that secretaries rate their jobs more highly on the five core job dimensions than do their supervisors, was not supported.;The study concluded that educational programs for both secretarial students and working secretaries should be designed to enhance their abilities to achieve high levels of the core job dimensions. Skill variety was the job characteristic deemed most responsive to these educational programs. |
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