Tec students in Oxford to represent LatAm at international competition

Five students from the Laguna Campus at Tecnológico de Monterrey will represent the institution and Latin America at the Map the System entrepreneurship contest in June of this year.

The students won first place in the national competition organized by the Tec and the EGADE Business School, which takes them to the global final of the initiative from the Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Oxford.

Map the System focuses on developing systemic thinking skills in young people in order that they can solve important social problems. 

The winners, who are all undergraduate students at the Laguna campus, are: Luis Carlos Olave Vera, Héctor Javier Moreno Femat, Georgina Guadalupe Sarmiento Moncada, María Teresa Murra Belausteguigoitia, and Ana Isabel Guzman Parga.

The Laguneros formed part of a multidisciplinary team investigating the effects of “narcoculture” on young people in Mexico.

“This competition asks us to identify systematic problems and helps us formulate effective solutions for them. We’ve encountered this problem, but what can we do about it and how are we going to do it?” explained Héctor Moreno.

To challenge themselves, the students carried out an investigation in order to detect the roots and deepest causes of this social issue.

Map the System takes Laguneros to Oxford

Joshua Hammerschlag Madrigal, director of Social Entrepreneurship in the Mexico City region and the person responsible for holding this competition at the Tec, said that more than 25 teams from the university participated this year.

Participants included undergraduate and master’s students, as well as a doctoral group, from both Tec and the EGADE Business School. 

The teams submitted a systemic map of the problem, an essay, and a bibliography of the literature used for their research. After a screening process, only five teams were allowed to pitch their project. 

“We made an effort to emulate the dynamic used at Oxford. They had five minutes to pitch their problem in English, so we could see their ability to convey what they’d researched.”

At the global final, both the students and the professors in charge of the competition will have access to workshops, talks, and networking opportunities.

“This year, they’ll be holding Systems Week, which is promoted by Oxford, and Tec de Monterrey will be participating in some talks as part of that,” said Hammerschlag Madrigal.

The Laguneros will face 35 teams from around the world on June 9, 10 and 11.

A challenging competition for Tec21 students

Joshua Hammerschlag explains that Map the System is a competition focused on social entrepreneurship, whose objective is not to promote solutions but rather to increase understanding of the problem.

“It puts kids on the right track to understanding the problems they want to solve. Because they have a much deeper understanding, the solutions they propose are more profound and systemic, and have a greater impact.”

He said that the social entrepreneurship competition also allows participants to develop the competencies required by the Tec21 educational model.

“One of the sub-competencies is systemic thinking. We believe that we can strengthen not only the practical or entrepreneurial side with our programs, but also the academic side.”

3 years taking part in Map the System

As there can only be one representative per university, the Tec, the only Latin American which participates, holds an internal competition to choose its representative.

Joshua Hammerschlag explains that the Tec received an invitation to participate after attending an event in 2018.

“The competition is nationwide and happens with the support of all my fellow regional Institute of Entrepreneurship directors in the area of social entrepreneurship.”

Two student teams have participated in Map the System’s previous competitions: one from the Tec’s State of Mexico campus and the other from the Guadalajara campus.

With contributions from Jaime Miranda and Alonso Theurel

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