Background: Many youth are not meaningfully engaged in their school-based transition process. Understanding youth's perceptions of their engagement and factors influencing engagement is important to increase engagement. Design: A search of six databases produced 975 studies; 11 which were included. Inclusion criteria: Qualitative research on youth's perspectives of the transition process in the United States; youth's primary disability is not intellectual or physical disability. Analysis: Applied guidelines for study quality and content analysis of results sections. Results: Youth described interactions and personal factors that contribute to disengagement in transition planning. Yet, youth have transition-related goals and preferences and take actions during transition. Conclusions: Findings highlight the complex social structure of IEP teams and potential ways to expand transition-related interventions.