Silicon Valley: Too Heavy on Engineering and Light on Liberal Arts

The educational backgrounds of many Silicon Valley workers — heavy on engineering and light on liberal arts — also play a role in shaping the industry culture.

“What I worry about is how unidimensional computer science students have become as a result of the rigor of the curriculum,” Mr. Sacca said. “They don’t get to study abroad. They don’t have summer jobs. They don’t wait on tables — what you get is a 23-year-old engineer at Google yelling at a chef because they ran out of pheasant that day. They don’t understand how people get by in the developing worlds. They don’t know anyone trying to make payday loan payments. I really worry about how homogeneous our culture is getting in Silicon Valley because of the lack of experience.”