Not all students are equipped to make moral gains in college, suggesting colleges should more closely consider how they encourage moral reasoning through teaching, according to a study discussed Monday at a national conference.

Presented at the American Educational Research Association’s annual conference, “Answering the Call: How College Impacts Moral Reasoning Trajectories” was co-authored by New York University assistant professor Matthew Mayhew, University of Iowa professor Ernest Pascarella and Iowa researcher Tricia Seifert.

The study investigated the relationship between attending college and moral reasoning development and how the relationship differed for students in moral “transition phases” versus “consolidated phases,” according to the study.

The study said students in a transition phase “use a variety of thought patterns within a given stage or sometimes between stages when making meaning of environmental cues.” Students in a consolidated phase “use consistent patterns of reasoning when engaging external stimuli.”

The results of the study indicate students in transitional moral phases are more likely to report being influenced by aspects of college such as courses that addressed diversity or related material to historical events.

Transitional students were also found to be more likely to report gains in moral reasoning after being exposed to courses, co-curricular activities and good teaching practices.

“What I think is kind of typical now is the kind of characteristics students bring to college shape the ways they experience college in a lot of ways people don’t understand,” Pascarella said. “Students get things out of college just because [of] who they are.”

Mayhew said he was unsurprised by the results of the study, which he said confirms colleges can have an impact on students’ moral development in their first year.?

“Most of the college mission statements … have articulated somewhere a commitment to helping students become responsible citizens,” Mayhew said. “It’s pretty important to assess students in their first year of college, to actually be able to see where they are not only in reasoning development but cognitive ability, all those things.”

The study was based on information gathered from 1,470 students at 19 colleges as a part of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education.