This thesis revisits the study of occupations. It proposes a holistic approach for analysing occupations in relation to three dimensions, focusing on the content, the lived-experience and the context of the job as the key elements in framing occupational work. Primacy is given to the job content and how this interacts with lived experience and context. An ethnographically-informed methodology was employed, which included interviews with 9 legal secretaries and 15 medical secretaries in Scotland. Their occupational content was interrogated in terms of their knowledge, skills, qualifications, tasks, task discretion, practice and interpersonal relations. The context of their occupations was examined in relation to their organisational, sectoral and industry location and degree of formal and informal collective organisation. To understand their lived experience, the study investigated their routes into secretarial work, how their work informed and was informed by their personal identity and the outcomes of their efforts. The findings revealed that the work of these secretaries has changed and extended to include an extensive list of tasks and skills. A variation between the work of medical and legal secretaries was discovered in relation to the tasks developed, and a small variation in the kind of knowledge required to undertake their tasks. In part, secretaries did not realise or appreciate the extent of skills they deployed in their jobs, and they exhibited anxieties in relation to forthcoming organisational changes that might affect the work they do. Respondents also demonstrated a degree of conflict and ambiguity in the development of their work. Although having discretion and autonomy to develop their work, secretaries still suffered from conflicting information with and from management. The empirical findings generate valuable information on the labour process and identity of medical and legal secretaries contributing to our understanding of their work. The thesis concludes by assessing the merits of a holistic approach to understanding occupational work.

It is in order that the college student in secretarial training might have some definite idea as to the kinds of on-the-job duties she might be expected to perform and the type of background knowledge she might be expected to know--or at least be able to find out quickly when needed--that this study has been made.

This sociological study investigates how the process of vertical occupational segregation by sex is maintained at the end of the 20th century. It explores the secretarial role and opportunities for career advancement beyond this "pink-collar" occupation within four organizations in England that were self-identified as promoting equal opportunities. The evidence stems from case studies conducted at the BBC in 1992 and at the BBC, Channel Four, Rank Xerox, and Unilever in 1994. Data were collected in three forms: (i) semi-structured interviews; 18 with mid- to senior-level secretaries, 10 with managers, and 13 with personnel representatives; (ii) office observations; and (iii) materials related to the individual companies, Opportunity 2000, and the European Community. Secretaries' opportunities for advancement were found to be rare. A pink-collar wall, rather than a glass ceiling, was discovered, due to a combination of structural constraints and the actions, or agency, of secretaries. This research extends the dual-systems model of occupational segregation by using the case study methodology and by including women's experiences and behaviour within the theoretical framework. This study expands current knowledge about the lives of ordinary working women and the persistent phenomenon of occupational segregation.

This study is made to evaluate the effectiveness of the secretarial training course of Henrietta M. King High School, Kingsville, Texas, in preparing its students for employment after graduation. It determines the extent to which its students have used the knowledges and skills taught in the course.

O estudo objetivou verificar a influÃncia de um curso de educaÃÃo profissional de nÃvel mÃdio na Ãrea de secretariado, no desenvolvimento de competÃncias profissionais e na situaÃÃo sÃcio-econÃmica de seus egressos. A educaÃÃo profissional surgiu com o intuito de viabilizar uma qualificaÃÃo mais direcionada para o mundo do trabalho, a fim de atender Ãs exigÃncias do mercado que cada vez mais busca pessoas com capacidade de desenvolver competÃncias profissionais diversificadas. A atuaÃÃo do profissional de secretariado vem destacadamente crescendo em demanda mundial, alÃm de ser considerada uma profissÃo que vem sofrendo grandes modificaÃÃes desde sua origem. Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva e quantitativa. Foram realizados estudos bibliogrÃficos e documentais baseados em vÃrios autores. A pesquisa foi consolidada atravÃs da aplicaÃÃo de questionÃrios, respondidos pelos concludentes do Curso de TÃcnico em Secretariado realizado pelo CETREDE â Centro de Treinamento e Desenvolvimento, em Fortaleza. As respostas, baseadas na influÃncia do curso no desenvolvimento de competÃncias e nas melhorias sÃcio-econÃmicas de seus egressos, foram significativamente positivas. O estudo proporcionou uma sÃrie de reflexÃes que poderÃo servir de estÃmulo para novas pesquisas e enfatizar a relevÃncia do ensino profissionalizante, bem como a importÃncia do profissional de secretariado. / This essay aimed to analyze the influence of a high school level professional education course on the secretarial branch in the development of professional skills and also in the socioeconomic situation of their graduates. The professional education began with the aim of achieving a more targed qualification for the world of work in order to meet demands of the market that increasingly looks for people with ability to develop diverse professional skills. The role of secretarial professionals is prominently growing in global demand, in addition to be considered a profession which is undergoing major changes since its conception. The study was built on a descriptive as well as quantitative type of research. Documental and bibliographical studies were based on the work of distingued authors. Beyond that, the research was consolidated through the application of questionnaires completed by the students that accomplished the requirements of the Secretarial Technical Course offered by CETREDE-Development and Training Center, in Fortaleza. The answers were based on the influence of the course in the skills improvement and socioeconomic growth of their graduates, which results became significantly positive. The study provided a series of reflections that may help to encourage the implementation of new researches, emphasizing the importance of professional education as well as the importance of the secretarial professional worker.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivos descrever, analisar e discutir uma experiência de ensino/aprendizagem de francês voltada para profissionais de secretariado, indagando se um curso de Francês com Objetivos Específicos propriamente dito seria viável a aprendizes com pouco ou nenhum conhecimento do idioma já inseridos no mercado de trabalho ou se seria necessário iniciar a formação por um curso geral de Francês Língua Estrangeira. O curso experimental foi ministrado na sede do Sindicato das Secretárias do Estado de São Paulo de março a novembro de 2009 e contou com a participação de trezes secretárias. A partir da observação dos dados coletados e dos resultados obtidos ao longo da realização deste curso, pareceu-nos fundamental acrescentar à reflexão contida neste trabalho outra perspectiva: trata-se de um curso de FOS propriamente dito ou de um curso de FLE com orientação secretarial? Esta pesquisa apresenta em primeiro lugar o profissional de secretariado assim como parâmetros referentes às tarefas exigidas deste profissional no mercado de trabalho brasileiro nos dias atuais. Em segundo lugar, ela analisa a gênese e o desenvolvimento gradual do conceito de FOS e expõe por fim a concepção do curso experimental a partir dos resultados obtidos na etapa de análise de necessidades. Este estudo de caso revela o cerne do trabalho do professor: o de ser o responsável pela concepção de formações lingüísticas que aliem protocolos de concepção e procedimentos de FOS a uma orientação para a área secretarial. / This dissertation aims at describing, analysing and discussing a teaching/learning experience to secretaries regarding the French language. Its core question is whether or not a course with specific purposes would be viable for learners with little or no knowledge of the language but already inserted in the work market. The study wanted to determine if such a course would be efficient or if the students would need a general course of French as a foreign language prior to the specific purpose course. The experimental course was taught at the secretaries union in the state of São Paulo from March to November 2009 and it had 13 secretaries. Based on the observation of data collected and the results obtained, we found it important to add another perspective: is this a FOS course or a FLE course but oriented to the secretarial field? This research shows first the professionals as well as parameters that refer to the tasks demanded from these professionals in todays Brazilian work market. Following, it analyses the genesis and the gradual development of the concept of FOS. Finally, it exposes the conception of the experimental course based on the results obtained in the period of the needs analysis. This case study reveals the core of a teachers job: the one of being responsible for the conception of linguistic formation that put together conception protocols and procedures of FOS with the secretarial orientation.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivos descrever, analisar e discutir uma experiência de ensino/aprendizagem de francês voltada para profissionais de secretariado, indagando se um curso de Francês com Objetivos Específicos propriamente dito seria viável a aprendizes com pouco ou nenhum conhecimento do idioma já inseridos no mercado de trabalho ou se seria necessário iniciar a formação por um curso geral de Francês Língua Estrangeira. O curso experimental foi ministrado na sede do Sindicato das Secretárias do Estado de São Paulo de março a novembro de 2009 e contou com a participação de trezes secretárias. A partir da observação dos dados coletados e dos resultados obtidos ao longo da realização deste curso, pareceu-nos fundamental acrescentar à reflexão contida neste trabalho outra perspectiva: trata-se de um curso de FOS propriamente dito ou de um curso de FLE com orientação secretarial? Esta pesquisa apresenta em primeiro lugar o profissional de secretariado assim como parâmetros referentes às tarefas exigidas deste profissional no mercado de trabalho brasileiro nos dias atuais. Em segundo lugar, ela analisa a gênese e o desenvolvimento gradual do conceito de FOS e expõe por fim a concepção do curso experimental a partir dos resultados obtidos na etapa de análise de necessidades. Este estudo de caso revela o cerne do trabalho do professor: o de ser o responsável pela concepção de formações lingüísticas que aliem protocolos de concepção e procedimentos de FOS a uma orientação para a área secretarial. / This dissertation aims at describing, analysing and discussing a teaching/learning experience to secretaries regarding the French language. Its core question is whether or not a course with specific purposes would be viable for learners with little or no knowledge of the language but already inserted in the work market. The study wanted to determine if such a course would be efficient or if the students would need a general course of French as a foreign language prior to the specific purpose course. The experimental course was taught at the secretaries union in the state of São Paulo from March to November 2009 and it had 13 secretaries. Based on the observation of data collected and the results obtained, we found it important to add another perspective: is this a FOS course or a FLE course but oriented to the secretarial field? This research shows first the professionals as well as parameters that refer to the tasks demanded from these professionals in todays Brazilian work market. Following, it analyses the genesis and the gradual development of the concept of FOS. Finally, it exposes the conception of the experimental course based on the results obtained in the period of the needs analysis. This case study reveals the core of a teachers job: the one of being responsible for the conception of linguistic formation that put together conception protocols and procedures of FOS with the secretarial orientation.

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T18:22:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jose Roberto Lourenco.pdf: 1704500 bytes, checksum: 030bd4dc3f12fa14571b8bd453eb0082 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-07 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work had as objective to find out the linguistic needs for the professional activities of a specific target group, namely bilingual secretaries, who have the English language as a work tool. The most important and frequent activities done by the professionals in their daily work routine were identified previously through interviews conducted with ten secretaries. The fifty most important and frequent activities listed were used to compose a questionnaire which was sent on the net to the Union (Sindicato das Secretárias do Estado de São Paulo) for a large scale survey. Based on the 195 valid answers, we identified the main needs in the area concerning language usage, with the purpose of creating an alternative model for the English teaching in the form of templates. The work found theoretical support in the Corpus Linguistics and the Task-based Approach. To run the analysis of the answers to the questionnaire, we used the program SPSS for statistical analysis and performed the chi-square test to know the level of significance of the answers. The corpora utilized in the research were the written Business English Corpus (BEC), the oral American National Corpus (ANC), a written corpus of Blogs (CBC/Corporati) and a reference corpus, the British National Corpus (BNC-W). For the lexico-grammatical study of the texts selected, we used the software WordSmith 6.0, which made it possible to select lexical combinations used to develop tasks with corpora. The results showed the bilingual secretary today is responsible for basic activities such as taking notes on the telephone and arranging schedules. However, she occupies the role of social supporter of expatriates and visitors to the country. It was observed frequent usage of written and oral registers through e-mail and telephone respectively. The study presented here may have made an original contribution to the existing body of corpus-based research in that it provides some new and useful information and data related to the secretarial activities and the use of English in the work environment. The study also presents and discusses possible limitations and further research, as well as suggestions for pedagogical applications of the findings / Este trabalho teve como objetivo efetuar um levantamento das necessidades linguísticas para atividades profissionais de secretariado bilíngues português/inglês. As atividades mais importantes e frequentes na rotina de trabalho foram identificadas previamente por meio de entrevistas realizadas com dez profissionais. As cinquenta atividades mais destacadas compuseram um questionário que foi enviado ao Sindicato das Secretárias do Estado de São Paulo, para coleta de dados em larga escala. Com base nas 195 respostas válidas obtidas, identificamos as principais necessidades da área no tocante à linguagem, no intuito de criar um modelo alternativo de ensino de inglês para aprendizes na forma de módulos (templates). O trabalho adotou como suporte teórico a Linguística de Corpus e o modelo de ensino baseado em tarefas. Para análise das respostas ao questionário, utilizamos o programa SPSS de análise estatística e aplicamos o teste de qui quadrado, para determinar o nível de significância das respostas. Os corpora empregados na pesquisa foram o Business English Corpus (BEC), escrito, o American National Corpus Charlotte (ANC), falado, e o corpus de blogs CBC/Corporati, escrito, além de um corpus de referência, o British National Corpus World (BNC-W). Para o levantamento de palavras-chave e padrões lexicogramaticais dos textos selecionados, utilizamos a ferramenta eletrônica WordSmith Tools 6.0, que permitiu a seleção das combinações lexicais utilizadas posteriormente na composição de tarefas para o ensino do idioma. Os resultados indicaram que as secretárias continuam desempenhando funções básicas, como anotar recados telefônicos e organizar agenda executiva, porém acumulam a importante função de suporte e acompanhamento da vida social e profissional de expatriados e visitantes. Foram observados o uso intensivo de dois registros, a linguagem escrita via e-mail e a linguagem telefônica. A pesquisa pretende ter contribuído para a Linguística de Corpus e para a área de ensino de língua, por ser o primeiro estudo dessas áreas dedicado à atividade secretarial e ao uso profissional do idioma. Novas incursões e estudos futuros são propostos e discutidos na conclusão, bem como sugestões de aplicações pedagógicas dos resultados e planos de trabalho adicionais

Thesis (M. En.)--Miami University, Institute of Environmental Sciences, 2004. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 31).