I believe the Arabic word Talib more specifically refers to a religious student of a Koranic school. In other words, not someone studying math, science, history, literature, etc. in general but rather a study and interpretation of all academic fields through the narrow lense of Islam, particularly a strict fundamentalist variety.

I don't think an analogy to modern Western academics would be appropriate at all here. The Taliban reminds me much more of the Mideaval monks and other Christian scholars studying various academic fields, and using their intellect to construct arguments justifying the Crusades, or the Inquisition, and so on.