Unprecedented social, economic, and technological forces are constantly extending and changing the core of knowledge and the competencies required of students entering the secretarial professions. Secretaries have risen to the challenge of restructuring its strategies to meet the requirements of these new realities, which are at once dynamic and unpredictable. The purpose of this paper is to: (1)delineate the social context and forces that are influencing contemporary society and secretarial professions; (2)articulate secretaries’ knowledge base; (3)identify fundamental attitudes necessary for secretarial professionals to navigate nimbly in a fluid environment. The central metaphor of chaos theory and butterfly effect aptly describes these conditions, and this metaphor makes possible to elicit the strategic choice. To accomplish this purpose, survey method was used on Year2000 and Year2002 for secretaries and bosses. Through analyzing these two times surveys : (1)social context and forces were delineated; (2)knowledge base were articulated; and (3)fundamental attitudes were identified. This longitudinal surveys are the critical point of this paper because it makes possible to capture the changes in chaotic environment and to make strategic decisions and actions.

Unprecedented social, economic, and technological forces are constantly extending and changing the core of knowledge and the competencies required of students entering the secretarial professions. Secretaries have risen to the challenge of restructuring its strategies to meet the requirements of these new realities, which are at once dynamic and unpredictable. The purpose of this paper is to: (1)delineate the social context and forces that are influencing contemporary society and secretarial professions; (2)articulate secretaries’ knowledge base; (3)identify fundamental attitudes necessary for secretarial professionals to navigate nimbly in a fluid environment. The central metaphor of chaos theory and butterfly effect aptly describes these conditions, and this metaphor makes possible to elicit the strategic choice. To accomplish this purpose, survey method was used on Year2000 and Year2002 for secretaries and bosses. Through analyzing these two times surveys : (1)social context and forces were delineated; (2)knowledge base were articulated; and (3)fundamental attitudes were identified. This longitudinal surveys are the critical point of this paper because it makes possible to capture the changes in chaotic environment and to make strategic decisions and actions.

Core Competencies of Secretaries, Chaos Theory, Education of Secretaries