The premise here is that many people (most, even?) are not as interested in career growth and learning once they hit 50 as they were right out of college. That

The premise here is that many people (most, even?) are not as interested in career growth and learning once they hit 50 as they were right out of college. That fact is what makes many people consider software development a dead-end job unless you get into management at which point the growing and learning becomes much more like other professions.