A STUDY OF JOB PROSPECTS OF SECRETARIES IN SOME SELECTED BUSINESS ORGANIZATION

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the job prospects of secretaries in some selected business organizations and the implications for Secretarial Education Curriculum in North-Central Nigeria. The secretarial profession has undergone significant transformation in recent decades, driven by advances in information technology and changing organizational structures, to the point where many Nigerian tertiary institutions have renamed their Secretarial Education programmes as Office Technology and Management (OTM) in an effort to keep pace with modern realities. This shift raises pressing questions about how well existing curricula, whatever their name, actually prepare graduates for the job tasks and competencies demanded by the contemporary workplace. Recent Nigerian research underscores both the continued relevance and the evolving demands of the profession, while also documenting a persistent gap between training and practice. A study of the secretarial profession in Oyo State found that while the profession continues to offer genuine career prospects, secretaries face growing challenges linked to rapid technological change that require continuous upskilling (Oladeji & Afolabi, 2021), a finding reinforced by research emphasizing that 21st-century secretaries must develop strong digital and ICT competencies to remain indispensable in modern offices (Fasae, 2023). A study of secretaries in South-West Nigerian polytechnics similarly found that effective information management practices, largely ICT-enabled, were closely linked to secretaries' actual job performance (Adeyeye & Erwat, 2024). Most directly relevant to the present study's location, a study of OTM students across two polytechnics in Kogi State, within North-Central Nigeria, found a clear gap between the ICT training students received in school and the actual practice of the profession in the world of work, with inadequate funding, unstable power supply, and shortages of competent educators identified as key contributing factors (Tony-Okeme, 2022). A related study of OTM lecturers in South-East Nigerian polytechnics similarly found that lecturers' own pedagogical competency needs remain incompletely met, raising questions about instructors' capacity to deliver an up-to-date curriculum in the first place (Ibeneme & Kaduru, 2024). This study investigated the job tasks required of secretaries in selected business organizations in North-Central Nigeria, examined the impact of Information Technology on the performance of Secretarial Education graduates, examined the competencies required of these graduates in performing job tasks, and investigated lapses in the current curriculum used to prepare them. A survey research design was adopted, with data collected from secretaries and employers in selected business organizations and analysed using descriptive statistics. The findings are expected to guide curriculum reform for Secretarial Education programmes in North-Central Nigeria.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The role of the secretary within business organizations has changed considerably over the past few decades. Where secretaries were once primarily associated with shorthand, typing, and basic clerical duties, the modern secretary is increasingly expected to manage information systems, coordinate office operations, and, in many organizations, perform functions once reserved for junior management. This transformation has been driven substantially by the rapid adoption of information and communication technology in the modern office, a shift so significant that educational authorities have reviewed the traditional Secretarial Education curriculum and renamed the discipline Office Technology and Management (OTM) in many Nigerian tertiary institutions, in an effort to signal and formalize this evolution. This renaming exercise itself raises the question at the heart of this study: has the substance of secretarial training actually kept pace with the demands of the modern office, or has the change been primarily nominal?

Recent Nigerian research speaks directly to this concern from several angles, and increasingly points toward a persistent gap between curriculum intent and classroom or workplace reality. A study of the secretarial profession in Oyo State found that while genuine career prospects remain available to trained secretaries, the profession faces mounting challenges tied to the pace of technological change, requiring secretaries to continuously update their skills to remain competitive in the modern technology era (Oladeji & Afolabi, 2021). This aligns with broader research emphasizing that the 21st-century secretary must develop strong digital competencies, arguing that secretaries who successfully reskill and upskill in response to technological advancement are better positioned to remain indispensable to their organizations, while those who do not risk being left behind as roles are automated or restructured (Fasae, 2023). At a more operational level, a study of secretaries working in public polytechnics in South-West Nigeria found a close relationship between effective information management practices, largely enabled by ICT tools, and secretaries' actual job performance, suggesting that technological competence has become a practical determinant of job effectiveness rather than a peripheral or optional skill (Adeyeye & Erwat, 2024).

Most directly relevant to the geographic focus of this study, research conducted within North-Central Nigeria itself provides sobering evidence of a persistent training-practice gap. A study examining OTM students across two polytechnics in Kogi State, drawing on the perspectives of lecturers, final-year students, and both private and government sector managers and supervisors, found that respondents consistently identified a gap between the ICT training acquired in school and the actual practice of the profession in the world of work, with inadequate funding, unsteady power supply, and a shortage of competent educators identified as key barriers standing in the way of closing this gap (Tony-Okeme, 2022). This finding is reinforced from the supply side of the education system by a study of OTM lecturers in polytechnics across South-East Nigeria, which found that lecturers' own pedagogical orientation competency needs, meaning their capacity to effectively teach and deliver an evolving OTM curriculum, remain incompletely addressed, raising the question of whether instructors themselves are being adequately equipped to prepare graduates for a rapidly changing profession (Ibeneme & Kaduru, 2024). Taken together, these two studies suggest that the training-practice gap in Nigerian Secretarial Education, or OTM, programmes may originate on both sides of the classroom, in curriculum content that lags workplace demands, and in lecturer capacity that lags curriculum ambitions.

This body of evidence suggests that the job prospects of secretaries today are closely tied to their ability to master information technology and adapt to evolving organizational demands, while simultaneously revealing that the Nigerian institutions responsible for training these secretaries face their own well-documented struggles in keeping curriculum content and delivery capacity current. It is against this background that this study investigates the job prospects of secretaries in selected business organizations in North-Central Nigeria and the implications for the Secretarial Education Curriculum.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

While recent research confirms that secretarial careers continue to offer genuine job prospects, it also consistently highlights those prospects as increasingly contingent on secretaries' technological competence and continuous upskilling (Oladeji & Afolabi, 2021; Fasae, 2023; Adeyeye & Erwat, 2024). More troublingly, region-specific evidence from within North-Central Nigeria itself confirms that this is not merely a theoretical concern: a documented gap already exists between the ICT training OTM students receive in Kogi State polytechnics and the actual demands of professional practice, a gap attributed in part to resource constraints such as inadequate funding and unstable power supply (Tony-Okeme, 2022), while evidence from neighbouring South-East Nigeria suggests that even the lecturers responsible for delivering this training may themselves lack fully adequate pedagogical competencies (Ibeneme & Kaduru, 2024).

This raises serious concern about whether the Secretarial Education Curriculum used to train graduates in North-Central Nigeria, even where formally updated or renamed, adequately equips them with the job-task competencies and information technology skills that business organizations in the region actually require in practice. There is a real risk that curriculum reform in name has outpaced curriculum reform in substance, leaving graduates credentialed for a profession whose practical demands have shifted faster than their training, a risk that existing Kogi State evidence suggests may already be materializing. However, existing studies within the region have tended to focus on the perspectives of students, lecturers, and general managers or supervisors, rather than systematically comparing specific job tasks and competencies demanded by business organizations against curriculum content across a broader set of selected organizations in North-Central Nigeria. Without such a clear, region-specific, and organization-level understanding of the actual job tasks, competencies, and curriculum lapses relevant to the area, curriculum planners risk continuing to train graduates for a version of the profession that no longer matches employer expectations. It is this gap that the present study seeks to address.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The major objective of this study is to investigate/examine the job prospects of secretaries in some selected business organizations and the implications for Secretarial Education Curriculum in North-Central Nigeria. The specific objectives are to:

1. Investigate the job tasks required of secretaries in some selected business organizations in North-Central Nigeria.
2. Examine the impact of Information Technology on the performance of Secretarial Education graduates.
3. Examine the competencies required of Secretarial Education graduates in performing job tasks in some selected business organizations in North-Central Nigeria.
4. Investigate the lapses in the current curriculum used in the preparation of Secretarial Education graduates for job tasks in some selected business organizations in North-Central Nigeria.

1.4 Research Questions

1. What job tasks are required of secretaries in selected business organizations in North-Central Nigeria?
2. What impact does Information Technology have on the performance of Secretarial Education graduates?
3. What competencies are required of Secretarial Education graduates in performing job tasks?
4. What lapses exist in the current curriculum used to prepare Secretarial Education graduates for job tasks?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

Ho1: Information Technology has no significant impact on the performance of Secretarial Education graduates.

Ho2: There is no significant gap between the competencies required by employers and those provided by the current Secretarial Education Curriculum.

Ho3: Job tasks required of secretaries in selected business organizations do not significantly differ from the content covered in the current Secretarial Education Curriculum.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study is significant to several groups. To curriculum planners and educators responsible for Secretarial Education, or Office Technology and Management, programmes, the study will provide evidence to guide substantive, not merely nominal, curriculum reform, building on region-specific evidence of a training-practice gap already documented within North-Central Nigeria (Tony-Okeme, 2022). To OTM lecturers and their training institutions, the findings may reinforce the importance of addressing lecturers' own pedagogical competency needs alongside student curriculum content (Ibeneme & Kaduru, 2024). To business organizations in North-Central Nigeria seeking well-prepared secretarial staff, the findings will clarify the competency gaps they should expect and plan around when hiring recent graduates. To current and prospective secretarial students, the study will offer insight into the actual demands of the profession they are training to enter, supporting more informed skill development. To professional bodies overseeing secretarial and office administration standards, the findings may inform accreditation and standard-setting decisions. Finally, the study will serve as a reference for future researchers examining secretarial education, curriculum design, and graduate employability in Nigeria.

1.7 Scope of the Study

This study is limited to examining job tasks, the impact of Information Technology, required competencies, and curriculum lapses relating to secretaries in selected business organizations in North-Central Nigeria. It draws on the perspectives of both practicing secretaries and their employers within the selected organizations.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

Time and resource constraints limited the study to selected business organizations rather than a comprehensive regional sample covering all sectors and institution types in North-Central Nigeria. Some employer respondents were reluctant to fully disclose internal performance assessments of secretarial staff, which may have limited the depth of some responses. Additionally, curriculum documents obtained for comparison may not fully reflect how courses are actually delivered in practice at the institutional level, a concern reinforced by existing evidence on gaps in lecturer pedagogical competency within the wider region (Ibeneme & Kaduru, 2024).

1.9 Definition of Terms

Job Prospects: The likelihood and quality of employment opportunities available within a given profession, including career advancement potential. Secretarial Education: A field of vocational and technical education focused on training students for office administration and secretarial roles, in some institutions renamed Office Technology and Management (OTM). Office Technology and Management (OTM): The updated designation adopted by many Nigerian tertiary institutions for what was formerly known as Secretarial Education, reflecting increased emphasis on information technology. Information Technology (IT): The use of computers, software, and digital systems to manage, process, and communicate information. Curriculum Lapses: Gaps or shortcomings in an educational curriculum relative to current job market requirements. Competencies: The skills, knowledge, and abilities required to perform a given job task effectively. Pedagogical Competency: The knowledge, skills, and instructional ability required of an educator to effectively teach a given subject or curriculum.

REFERENCES

Adeyeye, M. O., & Erwat, E. A. (2024). Information management practices and job performance of secretaries in public polytechnics in South-west, Nigeria. International Journal of Humanities and Education Development, 6(2).

Fasae, F. B. K. (2023). The fundamentals and indispensability of the secretarial profession in the 21st century. International Journal of Business and Management Review, 11(11), 35–49.

Ibeneme, O. T., & Kaduru, J. M. (2024). Pedagogical orientation competency needs of Office Technology and Management lecturers for their job effectiveness in polytechnics in South East Nigeria. African Journal of Educational Management, Teaching and Entrepreneurship Studies, 11(1).

Oladeji, D. O., & Afolabi, O. A. (2021). The challenges and prospects of secretarial profession in this modern technology era in Oyo State, Nigeria. The Pacific Journal of Science and Technology, 22(2).

Tony-Okeme, ... (2022). Gaps in training and practice: Office Technology and Management (OTM) students in perspective. Nigerian Journal of Business Education, 9(2).