How to remove path of my command line?

What are the pros and cons for a female software professional to follow a management path, vs staying on a technical path?

• I am a (woman) Software Engineer, working for a Tech Company in the SF Bay Area. I have quite a nice career profile, with 9+ years of experience. I am quite marketable as a Software Engineer, and my KSAs command an above average compensation for a Software Engineer, on the current job market. I enjoy working in this capacity, and I am very good at it. Now, I have for a while contemplated following a Management Path. I have demonstrated having the leadership skills and management potential so my employer(s) have been quite supportive of this option for me as well. A lot of skills that are needed in management come to me naturally (leadership, organization, etc) but I am not a huge fan of administrative work and I do not know how I would like managing people. But I feel I also could shine in that line for work, and I'm also curious about the type of experience it'll expose me to. At this point, the decision is mine to go either way. I'd like some insight on  pros and cons of changing path. Does is still makes sense the more senior level I achieve on the technical path? Are they more hurdles to anticipate in a management career for minorities (I'm a woman and I'm black), then they are expected to encounter in a technical career? Note that I'm not asking how to assess my skills or readiness to become a manager, but the Trade offs of either choices. Thanks

• Answer:

  There are more hurdles for women and blacks in management than in technical work; it's not fair but it's life. The decision should be based mostly on what you want to do with your life. You may or may not have the skills to manage people. Leadership at the technical level is only a small indication. Things become different when you have formal authority, and your daily working relationships change greatly. Are you tough? Can you take pressure, often unreasonable pressure, and absorb it rather than transmitting it? Can you accept a working environment where you need to keep an emotional distance from the people you most often work with? Are you comfortable making important decisions, that can affect not only your career but the careers of others, on the basis of fragmentary and suspect information? (If all of the facts were available in a timely fashion we could replace managers with computers.) Are you willing to accept responsibility (blame or praise) for everything that happens in your group, even when you didn't kinow what was being done? These things are all part of a management position. Some people thrive on them; others can't handle them.