This paper explores the implications of the difference between the occupational distribution for males and females in a joint model determining earnings and occupation. The male/female wage differential is evaluated for a number of broad occupational classifications. This is followed by an evaluation of the role and relative importance of inter‐occupational and intra‐occupational effects as contributors to the overall male/female wage differential The main conclusion following from the econometric results is that intra‐occupational effects dominate Thus, policies which attempt to address the gender wage differential by re‐allocation of labour across occupations are unlikely to solve the