I think another reason developers are reluctant to join management is there is this gap between developers and upper management. In upper management you're mak

I think another reason developers are reluctant to join management is there is this gap between developers and upper management. In upper management you're making enough money and have risen high enough you'll land on your feet. But before you make it there, you're stuck in middle management. In a lot of ways it's better to be a sr. dev or tech lead than middle management. The starting salary at any company is higher, you're more sought after, and you are usually keeping a valuable skill up to date. Where as project managers usually add value through their knowledge of the organization and application which is less transferable. My LinkedIn is peppered with lots of smart and capable project managers who didn't quite make it to upper management(usually because they weren't sharks) so they switched out of software or are stuck at jobs they don't like.