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Before she retired in 2001, my mother was an expert researcher. She studied how everyday people could swim with dolphins. She learned the entrance requirements for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey “Clown College.” She investigated the best local exchange rate for international currency when her boss returned home with a pocketful of lire. Her job: administrative assistant to the CFO at a Florida-based foundation.

Every day brought a new challenge. If it wasn’t figuring out how the boss’ wife could pet Flipper, or how his nephew could, literally, become the next Bozo, she was preparing financial statements, booking trips, planning events and remembering to turn the chief’s office thermostat down to 58 degrees before his daily arrival.

After a 30-year career in various administrative roles, she figured out the secret to success was juggling not just responsibilities, but quirks, moods and crises.

Today, 58,619 individuals work in office and administrative support occupations in Baton Rouge, according to the Department of Labor. More than 78% are women, and many navigate a world of multiple bosses and pressure to be efficient. And while their education and training opportunities have expanded, the jury is still out about flexibility.

“Our duties have not changed over the years, they’ve just increased,” says Deedee Kirby, project administrator at URS Corporation and past president of the Baton Rouge chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP). “Everyone is looking for the best way to get things done.”

The Baton Rouge IAAP, one of seven chapters in the state and three in the metro area, marks its 50th anniversary Oct. 25. Launched first as the National Secretaries Association, the group was founded in the fall of 1957.

Kirby says the field historically draws service-minded individuals, the best of whom thrive on efficiency and don’t mind multitasking or answering to different managers.

“It’s no longer the norm to work for one individual,” she says.

Kelli Cropper, an administrative professional with Shaw Constructors, a division of The Shaw Group, agrees.

“You have to be proactive.” she says. “Most support staff have a minimum of 10 people they’re assigned to.” Cropper is a founding member of The Shaw Group’s IAAP chapter.

IAAP encourages members to regard the field as a career where continuing education and credentials can trigger advancement. Kirby and Cropper both say the goal of their chapters is increasing excellence by offering workshops, encouraging members to sit for exams and connecting young members with veterans.

While supplemental education and training might be nice, another benefit —flexibility—might be harder to come by. Through its long history, the Baton Rouge IAAP Chapter has never been able to pull off lunchtime meetings because, Kirby says, it’s hard for administrative professionals to get away. And just as technology has encroached into the personal lives of bosses in the form of PDAs and laptops, so it has with their executive secretaries.

“If something comes up, it’s not unusual to have to reach people at home,” she says.

Meanwhile, as women in management are experiencing an increase in family-friendly policies like working from home, more paid maternity leave and flexible schedules, such amenities might a challenge for women in support roles.

This month, Working Mother magazine released its annual 100 Best Companies roundup, which judges the workforce profile, compensation, time off, child care, flexibility, and family-friendly programs of companies that apply.

It prompted a handful of readers of the magazine’s Web site to suggest a disconnect between the benefits given to management and administrative staff.

“I commend these companies for the efforts,” writes one reader, “but I feel that these incentives and perks are only for the persons that are in management and higher positions. Not for the support staff.”

Cropper says she experiences parity and flexibility in her job today, but she’s also worked for companies that made it difficult to balance work and family. In those cases, she says, “management really doesn’t understand what admins do. Things just seem to take care of themselves.”