Salary Survey Extra is a series of dispatches that give added insight into the findings of both our annual Salary Survey and our smaller Salary Survey PLUS polls. These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

There aren't nearly as many women who work in IT as there are men. The industry as a whole needs workers, and given that women are so thoroughly underrepresented, it's not unrealistic to think that one potent means of closing the persistent skills gap would be to simply convince more women to take up IT careers.

Tech employers are often seen as valuing and rewarding employees above and beyond the global workplace norm, so tech jobs ought to be at least as enticing to women as they are to men. On the other hand, there's reason to suspect that female workers might get the same second-class treatment in IT that they often receive in other industries.

In sifting through the results of the Linux Salary Survey that we conducted earlier this year, we found that, in the United States, for example, female certified Linux professionals earn considerably less than their male counterparts. The average annual salary for male survey respondents in 2017 is $63,770. The comparable figure for female survey respondents is just $41,330.

If we look at job roles, 55 percent of male certified Linux professionals work at the senior specialist level (the top tier below management and executives) in their organizations, whereas just 31 percent of female survey respondents are similarly employed. Moving down one rung to the specialist level, representation is fairly equal: 27 percent of men surveyed are at that level, compared to 29 percent for women.

At the bottom of the workplace hierarchy are the rank-and-file employees. Just 15 percent of male certified Linux professionals in the survey are at that level, compared to 32 percent for women. Starting with Linux salaries and extending to job roles, it would seem that there is room for improvement,

NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF: Clowns are people, too. They're just more unsettling — in a friendly, make-you-laugh sort of way — than other people. Other, you know, normal people. That's why we have things in pop culture like Killer Klowns from Outer Space.

That one is a movie , directed by Stephen Chiodo and released in 1988. There's also Insane Clown Posse. Which is ... what, exactly? What crazy clown thing is up with that? In the Not-So-Serious section of the 2016 Annual Salary Survey, we asked survey respondents to weigh in.

Because, if anyone would know about Insane Clown Posse, well, surely IT professionals would. Right? So what is it? Here's what we learned:

A hip-hop duo that peaked in the '90s — 51.0 percent
The Secret Service code name for Donald Trump's protection detail — 21.7 percent
I couldn't finish reading this question. Clowns scare the bejabbers out of me. — 19.4 percent
An Arnold Palmer on the rocks with crushed garlic, Tabasco, a shot of Jack Daniels and a sprig of locoweed — 7.9 percent

Original Question: Insane Clown Posse is ...