The present disclosure relates to a welding composition for joining high manganese steel base metals to low carbon steel base metals, as well as systems and methods for the same. The composition includes: carbon in a range of about 0.1 wt % to about 0.4 wt %; manganese in a range of about 15 wt % to about 25 wt %; chromium in a range of about 2.0 wt % to about 8.0 wt %; molybdenum in an amount of ≦ about 2.0 wt %; nickel in an amount of ≦ about 10 wt %; silicon in an amount of ≦ about 0.7 wt %; sulfur in an amount of ≦ about 100 ppm; phosphorus in an amount of ≦ about 200 ppm; and a balance comprising iron. In an embodiment, the composition has an austenitic microstructure.