Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you comment on why this is? Speaking broadly, software development tends to attract intelligent, hardworking, and educated people - not always obviously, but I think more so than a most other "office" jobs. What is contributing to the low social standing?
If you aren't in charge of others, you are at the bottom of a hierarchy of people.
There is an alternate measure, less commonly found but certainly existing in the mainstream: Rather than how many people are below you, how few people are there above you (in a large organization).
By that measure, the senior developer on a 'special projects' team reporting directly to a CxO could be quite high status. Similarly, the US National Security Advisor only has a small staff reporting to them, but their influence on US policy is as great or greater than the Secretary of Defense and/or Secretary of State.