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In this article, we report on findings from a critical literature review of qualitative methods in youth-focused research. The articles reviewed cover an array of methods including those used traditionally in qualitative research and others more recently established. We identify methods that involve youth in general and youth marginalized and/or criminalized within institutional structures, more specifically. We explore the ethical implications of researching with youth, institutional and in situ, a theme that emerged in the literature reviewed. We highlight the tensions, challenges, and power issues arising in the context of research with youth. We close with arguments for methods that move youth from the sidelines of research to greater involvement in the research process, including youth contributing to the research design, data collection, and data analysis. We emphasize the need for researchers to engage an ethical research praxis that ultimately finds space in the research process for youth voices to emerge.

This article explores the experiences, perceptions, and aspirations of three marginalized female university students. Their admission was facilitated by an access program designed to support the participation of young people who, while meeting entrance requirements, would otherwise not be able to attend university because of their social and financial circumstances. We explore how gender, race, and generational/ immigrant status function in the educational experiences of these students and how they negotiated the structural barriers that stood in the way of their educational aspirations. The stories of the three students reflect the complex relationship between their optimism, conviction, and sense of accomplishment, and their doubts, fears, and struggles as related to institutional demands and parental expectations. Aware of the opportunity structures that exist within the society, and seemingly committed to meritocratic ideals, they remain hopeful that those structures will facilitate them achieving the rewards they believe postsecondary education can make possible.

The perspectives of Canadians who share stories in this chapter about their mixed‐race lives provide a broader context for understanding multiracial students in the United States and considering how colleges and universities in differing national and cultural contexts might best serve this growing population.