Introduction: Women and men are equally well educated and employed in equal proportions. Their presence in certain occupational areas and in leading positions is not yet similarly distributed but has become more equal in recent years. Therefore the health and capacity of female executives has also become an important economic factor for companies. Workplace health promotion for executives, however, is still oriented on the needs of male colleagues. The consequences include higher rates of absence for women or their relinquishment of leading positions. Aim: Health promotion for female executives to enable them to carry out a job according to their dispositions and abilities by identification and taking into account of any specific vulnerabilities. Methods: Databases in the disciplines of medicine, psychology, social science and economics were searched for original articles by the application of various combinations of relevant terms and the articles were then selected according to study design and objectives. Results: Searching with the combination of “workplace health promotion” and “female executives” yielded no articles; terms with responses yielded the following results: Statistics for the prevalence and demographic characteristics of female executives showed that women of an age to raise a family more rarely fill leadership positions. Furthermore they live alone more often than their male counterparts. Articles about health risks for employed women describe sex-specific diseases which are often negatively influenced by heavy physical work, hazardous substances, and low temperatures. Differences in the aetiopathology and effects of the so called gender-neutral diseases were demonstrated in cardiac infarction, back pain as well as psychiatric symptoms. Research into workplace health promotion has demonstrated that women benefit from training and advisory measures with a reduction in physical disorders and improvement of confidence. Organizational measures improve women’s motivation and productivity. Conclusion: The publications about the health of female executives are inconsistent, with contradictory statements as to the effects of women’s double role on health, both risk-elevating and risk-reducing influences being recorded. Future studies should define their inclusion criteria more exactly to maximize homogeneity of the study collectives. Workplace health promotion oriented on the participants’ requirements could make it easier for women to fill leadership positions and improve their productivity for the company.
