Swimming in the Steno Pool: A Retro Guide to Making It in the Office

Feed your boss's ego. Dress for success. And don't let your heels trip you up on the corporate ladder.

Millions of women have held the position of secretary, alternately lauded as a breakthrough opportunity and excoriated as dead-end busy work. From the female pioneers who infiltrated Capitol Hill offices during the Civil War to today's tech-savvy administrative assistants, secretaries have withstood criticism for abandoning their rightful sphere (the home), weathered the dubious advice of s...