I don't think that it matters how it should be. The question of how things should be is... pointless. We can speculate about that all day and it won't make a

I don't think that it matters how it should be. The question of how things should be is... pointless. We can speculate about that all day and it won't make a difference. "Senior" software engineers are shippers. They're the ones that have the ability to deliver on time without stepping on their own garbage. Any training that the company can offer will be in gravitating toward being a better "shipping" programmer. Don't look to companies to provide the kind of environment that the thinking programmer needs. Thinking programmers fit better in non-corporate scenarios. Hobbyists, academics, etc. Without the business imperative breathing down their neck, the programmer can stop and think about what they're doing. When a company does foster the slow-burn software work that the thinking programmer does, then it's because that company has more money than they know what to do with, and the bean counters are busy on other parts of the ledger.