[rmbyrro]

Some speculate that universities adopted it as introductory language for its expressiveness and flat learning curve. Scientific / research projects in those unis started picking Python, since all students already knew it. And now we're here

[spprashant]

I have no idea if this is verifiably true in a broad sense, but I work at the university and this is definitely the case. PhD students are predominantly using Python to develop models across domains - transportation, finance, social sciences etc. They then transition to industry, continuing to use Python for prototyping.