**6. Conclusions**

Technology promotes access to different tools that facilitate the teaching-learning processes to favor the quality of education, and STEM methodologies promote favorable scenarios for university students' learning. Precisely, management simulators allow university students to have a holistic view of the company because all areas

#### *Educational Innovation in Higher Education with the Use of Management Simulators… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112771*

are integrated to solve problems, without causing collateral effects, and understand the effects of making decisions in real environments. In fact, gamification strategies used in teaching-learning are innovative in higher education because they generate competitive environments that force the university students to assume a managerial role to act as if they were in a real business practice and participate, as specified by Guzmán Duque and del Moral Pérez [7] and Cristofaro et al. [30] in their research. We agree with Dinata et al. [5] and Schmeller et al. [24] in the ease for the university student to integrate the company in a systemic way, and as evidenced in the research, it offers them an advantage to perform in managerial areas because it will be beneficial to have a disciplinary experience before entering the workplace. For this reason, the graduate profile is improved because competencies are developed for subsequent hiring, coinciding with Navarria et al. [6] because managerial practices are facilitated and with Craig et al. [8] in the application of knowledge, with skill being an advantage of STEM methodologies. From the research, the detection of those capabilities and skills that are required for the maximum use of the simulator in the teachinglearning environment to have more efficient academic processes with the use of technology is contributed.

It was found that students who use virtual simulators continue with the tendency to apply knowledge, improve their competencies, and, coinciding with Guzmán Duque and del Moral Pérez [7], favor competitive environments for men and collaborative environments for university women. In addition, they allow those competencies that were developed in learning environments to become strengths for graduates when they perform in their work environment, coinciding with García et al. [4] on the need for professionals to perform practices that facilitate their performance in the managerial field when exercising their professions and with Minichiello et al. [27] in seeking scenarios that facilitate the understanding of knowledge in a practical way, following STEM methodologies.

On the other hand, the university students indicated that the performance of their functions in their simulated jobs was improved because in the simulator, they applied their knowledge, improved the financial indicators of the simulated companies, and took decisions in environments under pressure, through the analysis of situations and teamwork for the continuous improvement of their companies. This complements the research of García et al. [4]; Dinata et al. [5]; Guzmán Duque and del Moral Pérez [7]; Meissner et al. [22]; and Cristofaro et al. [30], who indicate the need to develop managerial competencies that favor the results of organizations through the performance of professionals, and those of Heitzmann et al. [1]; Craig et al. [8]; and Flegr et al. [26], who affirm the need to use technology and STEM methodologies to improve the training of professionals.

After the results presented, it is necessary to indicate that it is necessary to include environments for training by competencies in ethics, innovation, and empathy in professionals with the use of strategies that promote the improvement of intra and interpersonal competencies. In this way, students are committed from the beginning of the simulations to participate in healthy competitions without affecting their peers on the personal side, generating a healthy environment for decision making and empathy with results orientation. The development of inter- and intrapersonal competencies allows subjects to understand the consequences of their activities, as well as innovative problem solving, and to address the implication of financial decisions on the future of the simulated companies.

The role of technology is very important according to the generation of the students. In the case of the research, most of the university students come from generation Z; they are digital natives and consider it as an ally in their teaching-learning processes, as indicated by Szymkowiak et al. [9]; precisely, simulators become STEM tools that favor learning because they promote the practical application of knowledge and allow the use of technological resources, capabilities, and skills of the university student to exercise their disciplinary competencies. In fact, university students improve their managerial competencies. A different vision is highlighted according to gender: women are collaborative and see the ability to analyze quantitative information as important, while men are competitive and work collaboratively; women indicate generating leadership in work teams and creating relationships for managerial decision making, while men consider seeking efficiency based on autonomous learning to create competitive teams.

Finally, simulators are important tools for Higher Education Institutions, there are ample possibilities to improve the skills of university students to validate all of their generic and professional knowledge, to facilitate insertion into the world of work, and improve the ability to analysis and their personal skills to perform in their jobs, where STEM methodologies are appropriate for the absorption of knowledge and its applicability in the simulated real world, therefore allowing the training of comprehensive professionals.
