All my professors taught and programmed in linux, but when it comes to exams, you need windows for the lockdown browser to do your exams. If you only had a linux machine, you won't be passing your classes!
At least for assignments, the professors requested pdfs and not docx or smth.
I think so too. GNOME famously doesn't prioritize customisation, which despite lots of angry complaints, still doesn't intend to change. That's because they already have a solid user base, a silent group that couldn't care less about customisation and gaming features, and mostly want it to "just work".
Think the Linux Torvalds type of person, using a workstation distro. Best thing GNOME can do is to minimize changes that break user's workflows and make sure the defaults are good.
The side effect is that they turn off their corporate machines after work and that's it for the day. They aren't going on forums to defend GNOME vs KDE arguments.