this is the case for most managers, unfortunately, and this is what is destroying the industry. These are the people who will manage people and have no clue how people operate, most causes of burnout that I have seen come from managers that don't care about people, they just push tasks and see people as resources.

The first step I always think that is being honestly concerned and caring about people and making them the best that they can be without toxic behavior and then balance it with company expectations and project management skills.

Folks complain that this is too much to learn, but this is the reason why managers get paid more. Not the case in the real world, unfortunately

Yep, unhealthy interest in personal status rather than in the health and success of the team.

Which would make for a terrible manager.

I'm a couple years away from 50, and "stuck as a developer" and it's fine, and having "young people above me" is no concern. They're team-mates and sometimes friends.

If I eventally make the switch to management, it would be because I got less interested sofware systems and more in team systems.

!(manager > engineer). Just different.

I want to be a manager as well, and I haven’t had any opportunities to become one. I’m often a go-to but I haven’t been able to go one rung up to management, either because there are already people with management experience so I get passed up, or I joined a team that recently got a new manager. Either way, I’m not seeing any opportunities and it’s extremely maddening.

So if I can study my way into management, I’d love to know more about it. Simply getting a masters or an MBA shouldn’t cut it, because it’s just theory and not real experience, right?

As someone who fought 10 years to get it, it's not easy. Best way is to find a situation where you can be promoted internally, at least to a team lead. Make it clear to your boss that's what you want to do, and hopefully he or she will listen and you'll get lucky. Alternatively work in your current position to get some experience that could lead to a team lead position (project management, coaching, 1 on 1's leading discussions, etc), and start applying for them.