9 Journal of Education and Vocational Research Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 9-16, Jan 2012 (ISSN 2221-2590) Mismanaging Knowledge and Education and their Effects on Employment in Lebanon and the Middle East Saher H. EL-Annan Arab Open University Beirut, Lebanon sanan@aou.edu.lb Abstract: Higher education plays an integral role in preparing graduates to enter and adapt, with minimal difficulties, to the work environment. The Lebanese and the wider Middle Eastern industry players’ feedback has shed light on the increasing dissatisfaction of the employers with the quality of those who have graduated from local universities. They contend that local graduates are too steeped in theoretical knowledge, and that their technical competencies, as well as their communication and interpersonal skills are found lacking. These graduates need further extensive training before they can be ready to join the work force and adapt to the workplace environment. Hence, and due to the existing deteriorating quality of higher education in the region, there are an increasing number of unemployed graduates. This paper addresses this issue by tackling the challenges that the educational institutions face, in addition to the means that could be adopted to effectively deal with the concerns of the Arab industries. Keywords: Attributes, education, employability skills, learning, and theoretical knowledge 1. Introduction Education is a key and a vital element in the broad development of the nation’s youth’s capacity to address and solve difficulties. It forms the basis for proactive and positive economic, social, and political changes in the society. It is thus the most important human resource investment that a nation may undertake (Little, 2001). In this age of globalization and modernity, higher education is critical to inducing comprehensive socioeconomic development and corporate rapid change to meet the ever-changing concerns and problems of fresh graduates. The Arab Labor Organization stated that the high unemployment rates among graduates from Arab educational institutions is testament to the widening gulf between university curriculum and the needs and challenges of the business world (Earnest, 2006). Accordingly, a comprehensive and all-inclusive examination of higher education curriculum and policies is necessary to address the challenges posed by the rapid globalization and the needs of the Arab business milieu. Employability skills are the skills needed to gain employment and make positive strides in an enterprise in order to attain individual potentials; consequently, they aid in advancing the enterprise’s specific strategic guidelines. Eight employability skills are usually employed. They are communication skills which spur productivity and harmony in relations with clients and preexisting employees; teamwork skills for improved working relations and outcomes; self management skills to add to employees’ growth and satisfaction with the job; skills in problem solving and planning; organization skills that spur the generation of constructive results; enterprise and initiative skills are vital in inducing innovations. It is worth noting that lifelong learning proficiency to acquire the aforementioned new skills coupled with technology skills spurs effective and efficient results and leads to the betterment of the industry’s outcomes. (Gonzalez, 2008). These aforesaid skills have several facets that may be adapted in different job roles and disciplines as demanded by the employers, noting that core skills and key competencies, subsets of employability skills, are functional across different fields; for example, workplace relations and social relations. These competencies are multi-functional skills, which are designed to tackle various challenges of daily life. They may be exploited to realize different objectives and address multiple challenges in various settings. Core skills empower graduates to don mental and psychological independence, and enable them to approach daily life actively and reflectively (Gonzalez, 2008). The graduate’s attributes are skills, qualities, competencies, and understandings that he/she ought to nurture and develop during university years. Quality