University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Future competencies needed in the preparation of secretaries in the state of Illinois using the Delphi technique

Ewing, Donna Marie

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/20608

Description

Title
Future competencies needed in the preparation of secretaries in the state of Illinois using the Delphi technique
Author(s)
Ewing, Donna Marie
Issue Date
1991
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Kazanas, Hercules C.
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ed.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • Education, Teacher Training
  • Education, Business
  • Education, Curriculum and Instruction
Language
eng
Abstract
  • Changes in the office are occurring rapidly. Secretarial science teaching programs are particularly vulnerable to the many technological changes occurring in offices today. Rapidly changing technology makes it necessary to teach those competencies that are relevant today and emphasize those competencies which will be more important in the future.
  • The purpose of the study was to identify desired future secretarial competencies--including basic knowledge and skills, communication skills, and personal characteristics--and to determine the importance of these competencies for the next five to ten years. A four round modified Delphi Technique was used to gather the data.
  • A focus group and panel of experts, including educators and business people, were selected from nominations of experts by personnel managers in the state of Illinois. The focus group of 12 experts was sent a list of 33 competencies which was prepared by the researcher after reviewing research studies and literature studies. The focus group refined the questionnaire and added 10 competencies for a total of 43. The expert panel consisting of 25 persons from education and 25 from business were asked to participate and complete the four rounds of the Delphi study. A total of 37 experts (15 from education and 17 from business) agreed to take part in the study. The experts identified seven additional competencies for a total of 50. This list contained 16 competencies that were not included in the Illinois State Board of Education's list of competencies required for employment of secretaries.
  • The rating of competencies and the priority ratings for implementation of the competencies in the curriculum were compared. Personal characteristics competencies received the highest overall priority modal ratings (100% = 1 = very important). Communication skills competencies received the second highest overall priority modal rating (89% = 1 = very important). Basic skills competencies received the third highest overall rating (52% = 1 = very important). The Mann-Whitney U-test revealed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in the rating of the secretarial competencies as important to the curriculum.
  • Recommendations regarding the importance of the identified competencies and the need for follow-up studies were offered.
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/20608
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1991 Ewing, Donna Marie

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