This discussion of the parallel development of instructional development and the professional practices of women instructional developers examines both the three historical phases of the instructional development literature from the 1960s to the 1980s, and the literature of the women's movement for the corresponding period. The first stage is characterized as representing the establishment of philosophical and theoretical foundations for professional practice; the second stage as reflecting the strategies and organizations whose purposes were to provide information to and support for professional practitioners; and the third as represented by the literature which ultimately reflects the legitimizing and refining of professional practice. It is concluded that the patterns of growth for women and for instructional development have now merged into a pattern of growth for women instructional developers, and that this pattern is reflective of the profession itself: as women developers work to legitimize and refine professional practice, so, too, is the profession legitimized and refined. (5 reference notes and 41 references) (Author/EW)