Congresswoman Joyce Beatty shares what it's like working in a male dominant field

Joyce Beatty is one of 106 women to hold a seat in the United States Congress, who make up 19.8 percent of the 535 members. She's used to leading the charge, for women and minorities. While in Columbus, the Congresswoman shared her struggles, triumphs and advice to young women.

The Congresswoman, who sits on the financial services committee, is a proponent of young girls pursuing math, science, technology and engineering.

But she also urges women to run for office.

"We shouldn't right now in 2018, still only be at 20 percent of females in Congress. We shouldn't be women making less on the dollar," Beatty says.

The Congresswoman remembers being the only woman among many men, as county administrator.

"One of the corporate executives walked into the room and said 'girlie I'll take my coffee black'. I got him that cup of coffee but what was so amazing was when I took a seat at the table and said 'gentlemen.'"

She eventually took another big seat, as the first female democratic house leader for Ohio.

"I was told because I was a female and because I was a female of color it would never happen because it never happened before," she said. "It required me to be tough and it required me to work twice as hard because I knew I had to prove myself differently simply because I was a female."

And because she proved herself and got to Congress, her message to young girls is simple.

"We have now women at West Point, we have women leading major countries; Be confident, work hard and don't let anyone else make you doubt yourself," she said.

And once you get to the top, the Congresswoman says don't forget, it doesn't stop there.

"No matter what you do as the first as a female, it really doesn't matter, unless there's a second or a third or a fourth or a fifth," Beatty says.

According to Baldwin Wallace College's Center for Women in Politics, out of the 99 members of the Ohio House of Representatives, 25 are women.

Out of the 33 members of the Ohio Senate, six are women.

Ohio has never elected a female governor, although Nancy Hollister served for 11 days in 1999 to fill the unexpired term of Governor George Voinovich after he resigned and became a U.S. Senator.

Ohio has never elected a woman to the U.S. Senate.

This article was originally published by 10TV News on February 15, 2018.