Results of the 1981 Survey of Earned Doctorates, which is conducted by five federal agencies, are summarized. About 95 percent of the annual cohort of recipients of the Ph.D. and similar doctorates respond to the survey questionnaire. The database also includes some information on nonrespondents obtained from public sources; recipients of first-professional degrees (e.g., M.D.'s) are not included. Highlights are as follows: annual science and engineering (S/E) doctorate production increased over 2 percent to 17,600 between 1980 and 1981; S/E doctorates accounted for about 56 percent of all doctorates in 1981, approximately the level that has prevailed since 1973; decreases in doctorate production occurred in engineering and the physical sciences (both are down almost 30 percent over the decade), while psychology and the life sciences generally increased; the annual number of both U.S. and foreign S/E doctorate recipients generally declined over the 1971-1981 period, but the 13 percent decrease for U.S. citizens was almost twice as great as that for non-U.S. citizens; minority group members received about one-tenth of the S/E doctorates awarded to U.S. citizens and permanent residents in 1981; the sex composition of the new S/E doctorate recipients changed over the last 10 years, with the proportion of women increasing from 10 percent in 1971 to 23 percent in 1981; the majority of doctorates undertake employment following graduation but the loci of job opportunities have been changing; the proportion of S/E doctorates entering employment in academia fell from 60 percent in 1971 to 43 percent in 1981, while employment in nonacademic institutions, excluding government, grew from 25 to 40 percent. (SW)