THE SECRETARY - INVISIBLE LABOR IN THE WORKWORLD OF WOMEN

Previous studies of secretarial work in organizations have reported a discrepancy between formally acknowledged roles and actual labor perfo rmed. In addition, many clerical jobs have been neither successfully r outinized nor rationalized. As in other areas of women's work, articul ation and categorization of tasks has been stunted by lack of language to adequately describe them. This analysis examines the character of secretarial work based on data from secretaries working in organizatio ns of different size and at various levels of bureaucratic control. A typology of secretarial labor is presented that reflects a correspondi ng continuum of clear definition and formal recognition by organizatio ns. Some of this ambiguity is accounted for by the fact that gender ex pectations are inter-woven into the work role. Much of secretarial lab or, including intellectual and emotional aspects of the work, are ''in visible'' to organizations, yet are essential to fulfilling organizati onal and professional goals.