**1. Introduction**

Technology forces Higher Education Institutions (HEI) to include innovation in educational processes for teaching-learning through scenarios that are conducive to the acquisition of disciplinary knowledge [1], with quality academic programs in the academy and in the organization [2], where professionals are trained by competencies to promote the successful performance of their graduates in the real world [3]. However, in any university career, difficulties are faced to apply knowledge in

companies, because organizations prevent access to professional practices in disciplinary environments to make decisions [4]. This is justified because companies fear the consequences of inexperienced decisions, which can be costly [5] and directly influence financial, commercial, or organizational stability. Thus, professionals in their last semesters and recent graduates are hired for jobs that have little to do with their area of training because they have theoretical knowledge but little or no practice in the real sector [6]. As a consequence, the fear of companies to hire university students for decision making in real environments is reiterated, and as mentioned, a decision with unintentional errors has a negative impact on the performance of an organization.

Guzmán Duque and del Moral Pérez [7] affirm that there are three ways to apply the knowledge acquired: case studies that are presented in classes for students to propose alternatives to solve business situations; however, this proposal remains in speculation because there is no way to check the success of such decisions, and sometimes. Resolutions of other companies that were successful are applied, ignoring the student's personal idea; internships in companies, where the professional should make decisions in the managerial field but may face consequences because there are financial, organizational, and administrative risks, so the company prefers to place the professional in activities that are not related to his discipline because he fears for organizational, commercial, financial, and so on losses. The student takes on the role of managing a simulated company, applying strategies and having the possibility of observing the consequences of their actions, thus avoiding catastrophic mistakes in reality when working in sensitive areas. Precisely, the teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and its advantages in different disciplines allow the student to analyze different facts and use them in cognitive processes that favor the practical application of theories [8]. On the other hand, young people and digital natives were impacted by technologies that were a solution to their educational problems but negatively influenced their academic progress, challenging educational models and giving way to methodologies that integrate technological devices [9].

In this sense, HEIs are responsible because the educational models are oriented to measure the knowledge of their students through numerical assessments, ignoring the competencies required by the professional [10]. Although the education models in Latin America are based on competencies, the assessment is still numerical, that is, based on "knowing" and not on the "doing" of the professional; therefore, the training of the "being" as an actor is relegated to the background [11]. This shows a serious problem, because the teaching-learning processes are oriented to the retention of knowledge, ignoring the training environments by competencies, when in the digital era, data are available to the public, and it is the professional who performs an analysis of different variables to make a value judgment; this is the aspect that distances us from artificial intelligence [10]. Research prior to this publication focuses on the development of digital competencies for the professionalization of their students [12], the use of strategies that facilitate the formation of generic competencies [13], and the orientation toward competencies required in companies to perform in management positions [14], but the review of the processes to develop disciplinary competencies individually and in groups with the use of STEM methodologies is lacking.

In higher education, technology allows bringing educational communities closer in teaching-learning [15], although there is a difficulty for the institutions due to its rapid advancement, which implies inconsistencies in its rapid implementation [16]

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

because it is required to face challenges of connectivity, its adoption, the formation of digital competencies, pedagogical aspects, and the fight against change [17]. The importance of the use of technology implies the need to access different ways to apply knowledge and achieve success in the student's academic results [18]. There are pedagogical strategies for use in the Classroom, such as intelligent tutoring systems, MOOCs, online games, collaborative platforms, chatbots [19], development of technological capabilities for leveraging these processes, to create joint knowledge and facilitate learning, etc. [20], virtual learning environments, virtual reality, videoconferencing, social networks and mobile learning [16].

Precisely, simulators allow an approach with reality for the application of disciplinary knowledge with the use of gamification strategies that facilitate teaching to become a learning habit [21]. In fact, in HEIs, these tools the creation of academic spaces, where students face real problems and integrate case studies with business practices to approach the real sector according to the degree [22] and to improve the quality of higher education based on the development of competencies of their students to keep the community satisfied and loyal to the institution [23].

This chapter shows how the use of managerial simulators, considered elements of STEM methodologies for the formation of managerial competencies—individual and group—in Business Administration undergraduates, can be used to improve their performance when they graduate and are immersed in the labor market. The differences that exist in the competencies according to the gender of the university student are highlighted and the abilities and skills required by the professional to maximize the use of management simulators are presented. At the end, it is specified how these tools are differentiating elements of STEM as facilitators in the development of competencies and application of knowledge in the disciplinary field.
