The Developer Glass Ceiling

Software engineering in general and programming in specific is a young person’s game; or so it’s treated. I have seen people’s quaint reactions (at least in India) for people coding in their 40s or 50s and even looked down if they still just ‘program’. But this is NOT a post about ageism in tech.

Programming is relatively easier to learn nowadays than it was a decade or two ago. There’s a galore of self-learned developers who excel at the craft, and competitive programmers who solve the most difficult problems in minutes. It is partly because programming is inherently a joyful activity, needs little upfront investment and makes developers feel pretty empowered. This particular facet of the craft has attracted millions to the tech industry.

Most people don’t easily get bored of coding. But with experience, and in proportion to it, there is a considerable pressure on programmers to ‘choose’ either a technical path or a management one. This duress is usually from the upper management in the form of promoting more people who ‘manage’ and ignoring those who remain technical. It resonates with the argument Steve Jobs makes in the Process vs Content video. Somehow corporations forget the individual contributors and reward the ‘loud ones’. Many technologists are forced to take up the management (sometimes cloaked as leadership) path. Many make their way to top through excel spreadsheets and powerpoint presentations, while being miserable. Management functions are critical to any business, but many managers push it as the de-facto success metric.

It is almost as if there is an artificial glass ceiling created by the management , many a times accidentally, in most tech companies, that works against great developers. This may be reflected in compensation and growth in the company. While no companies have failed due to these misgivings, they usually suffer short term consequences (won’t name any, it would be known if you follow tech news).

Please share your views below!