The Glass Escalator?

Reading about the Glass Escalator last week got me thinking about male flute players. This blog post talks about how the flute is considered a "girly" instrument and most flutists are female. However, when you look at the professional flute world, many of them are men. Even in my experience, most of the male flute players I know are fantastic musicians. Interestingly though, I don't think their success is due to the glass escalator effect. In fact, I've heard of band directors who discourage young boys from learning the flute in beginning band because many of them tend to quit before they become proficient. Other flute players I know have speculated that the reason many male flute players are so good is because only the most talented stick with it.